2.1.2 Changing cloth trade -The growth of the domestic system

Question 1

Why was the growth of the domestic system (also known as putting out system) in rural England (where workers would make cloth in their homes) a good way of generating more profit?

Answer 1

As the industry was based in the homes of workers, it was free of the taxes and regulation experienced by guild-based industries in towns.

Question 2

The cloth industry lent itself well to the use use of domestic labour force, as the process of working cloth was divided into a number of steps that could be carried out by different………… For example ……………

Answer 2

members of a family. However the results depended on the region of families.

For example some weavers from lancashire produced coarse cloth, whereas West country manufactured hard-wearing broad cloths, which would usually be sent to Low-countries.

Question 3

Why did the DS continueD throughout 17thC?

Answer 3

because

it was easy to hire and let go of labour as market dictated, and the skills involved were familiar to peasant families

Question 4

one reason for the prominence of the cloth trade is?

Answer 4

the whole sequ of manufacture could be split into sep processes. = great division of labour, cheaper, productive + fitted fam structure