Explain the steps which were taken by the British government or the colonial government to control the freedom of press.
(i) Earlier measures : Before 1798, the colonial state under the East India Company was not too concerned with censorship. Strangely, its early measures to control printed matter were directed against Englishmen in India who were critical of Company misrule and hated the actions of particular Company officers. The Company was worried that such criticisms might be used by its critics in England to attack its trade monopoly in India.
(ii) Regulations of Calcutta Supreme Court: By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court passed certain regulations to control press freedom and the Company began encouraging publication of newspapers that would celebrate Brtish rule. In 1835, faced with urgent petitions by editors of English and vernacular newspapers, Governor- General Bentinck agreed to revise press laws. Thomas Macaulay, a liberal colonial official, formulated new rules that restored the earlier freedoms.
(iii) Vernacular Press Act : After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press changed. Enraged Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the ‘native' press. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, modelled on the Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. From now on the government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces. When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated.
Give reasons for the following:
a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
The shift from handprinting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.
Not everyone welcomed the printed books, and those who did also had fears about it.' Explain by giving examples.
Who said "Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one ? ] [CBSE 2010. 11, 12]
Name an Act which was passed by the British government to keep a regular track of the vernacular newspapers.
How did Gutenberg personalise the printed hooks suiting to the tastes and requirement of others ? [CBSE 2012]
Print popularised the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.' Explain. [CBSE 2014]
Or
How did ideas about science, reason and rationality find their way into popular literature in the 18th century Europe ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
How did the oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally ? Explain with suitable examples. [CBSE 2008 (F), Sept. 2012]
Or
How did the printers manage to attract the people, largely illiterate, towards, printed books ? [CBSE Sept. 2012]
How were ideas and information written before the age of print in India ? How did the printing technique begin in India ? Explain. [CBSE 2008, Sept. 2010]
Or
Explain the role of missionaries in the growth of press in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
’Liberty of speech … liberty of the press … freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion, the fight for swaraj, for Khilafat … means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else….’
Who said these words ?
What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to :
Reformers
Study the given paragraph and answer the following questions that follow :
Liberty of speech…. liberty of the press freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion. The fight for Swaraj, for Khilafat …. means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else ….'
(i) Who said these words ?
(ii) Name the freedoms he is talking about.
How did printing press create a new- reading public ? Explain. [CBSF. Sept. 2013]
Or
"There was a virtual reading mania in European countries in the 18th century". Explain the factors responsible for this virtual reading mania.
Mass literacy increased many fold in the nineteenth century, in Europe. Women children and workers started reading books. Discuss.
Mention some of the innovations which have improved the printing technology after the 17th century. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
Highlight any three innovations which have improved the printing technology from 19th century onwards. [CBSE 2014]
Explain the impact of print culture on Indian women. [CBSE 2009 (O), Sept. 2012]
Or
Explain any three impact of printed books on women in India in the nineteenth century.
[CBSE Sept. 2010]
Who was the major producer of printed material in China ? For what purpose this material was used ?