Question

What effect did the Enclosure Acts have on people’s working lives?

A. Changes brought about by the acts prevented large farmers from taking lands from smaller farmers.

B. Small farmers could no longer work on common lands and had to move to cities for work.

C. Peasants started working on enclosed lands and soon became wealthy because of higher wages.

D. Landowners forced peasants to build roads and bridges as part of the new enclosure laws.

Answer 1

(B) Small farmers could no longer work on common lands and had to move to cities for work.

Answer 2

The effect of the Enclosure Acts on people’s working lives was small farmers could no longer work on common lands and had to move to cities for work.

Answer: Option B

Explanation:

Before the Enclosure Acts were brought into force by the British Parliament, the landless farmers (or small farmers) could use open uncultivated lands as grazing pastures or could take crops and keep the yield to themselves.

The Enclosure Acts demanded the administration to get such open pieces or lands to be covered with fences so that no one gets to use them for personal benefit.

This was a setback to small and landless farmers who depended on these pieces of land for sustenance. Following the implementation of the act, such farmers had to leave for cities in search of other work.