What causes the animals to rebel against Mr. Jones in chapter 2 of Animal Farm?

Once Old Major dies "peacefully in his sleep," the second chapter features a combination of factors that lead to the animals' rebellion.  On one hand, the Pigs' taking up the leadership mantle that Old Major left was a part of this process.  Orwell shows that the pigs were going around the farm and fomenting the revolutionary flair and feel, almost to the point where it seemed inevitable that the animals would rebel against Mr. Jones.  As a result, it is not one exact and specific event that results in revolution.  Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer hold meetings, "several times a week," to continue the fight of Animalism and to convince the animals that a change is needed on the farm.  Their discussions with animals both in general and specific manners help to spread the word that revolution, or the fight against "slavery" is something that benefits all of the animals.  When Jones gets drunk one night and does not tend to the duties of the farm and the cows are not milked and the animals are not fed, the call for change becomes inevitable and the animals take matters into their own hands.  The combination of Jones' incompetance and the Pigs' manipulation causes the "sudden uprising of animals."  It is here whereby the rebellion starts.

What causes the animals to rebel against Mr. Jones in chapter 2 of Animal Farm?

While Old Major's teachings are spread around, the animals take no action until they are badly abused by Jones's neglect. Jones already has a history of drinking heavily, and one day he ignores the needs of the animals more than they can stand:

The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep... when evening came, the animals were still unfed... One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins.
(Orwell, Animal Farm, msxnet.org)

In a sense, this is the last straw for the animals; they are content to remain as animals serving the humans as long as their basic needs are taken care of and the humans don't seem to overly abuse them. When it becomes clear -- by Jones and his men using violence to push back against the hungry animals -- that they are seen as nothing more than, well, animals, the animals take action and drive the humans from the farm. It is this acceptance of token comfort that has kept the animals enslaved, and ironically, it is a similar acceptance of Napoleon's rule (to keep Jones from returning, as Squealer often repeats) that forces the animals into an even worse slavery.

What does Old Major identify as the cause of the animals' problems in Animal Farm?

According to Old Major, man is the source of all the animals' problems. The animals have to wait on man for care because man gives the animals food. Yet, the only reason man is able to prosper is that the animals provide him with milk, meat, and eggs. Old Major wants the animals in charge of their own destinies--he wants to eliminate the humans from the farm because they are parasites on the system. By allowing the animals to keep everything they produce, the farm will run more efficiently and humanely. Not only does Old Major not like humans, but he dislikes anything associated with humanity, such as sleeping in beds, walking on two legs, and drinking alcohol. By taking away all the traits of humanity from the farm, Old Major hopes to create a Utopia.

What does Old Major identify as the cause of the animals' problems in Animal Farm?

Old Major eloquently depicts the lot of animals. In chapter one, he says:

In chapter two we see what actually happens in the farm. It is a confirmation of Old Major's ranting about the evils of humans. Jones and his men confirm all that Old Major said. 

"June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. On Midsummer’s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back till midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa with the News of the World over his face, so that when evening came, the animals were still unfed. At last they could stand it no longer."

After the philosophy called "Animalism" is formed, the animals point out that men are the only animal that only consumes and never brings forth anything. Here is what the animals say:

What does Old Major identify as the cause of the animals' problems in Animal Farm?

The source of much of their troubles is of course Man and the fact that man makes them labor "to the last atom of their strength," but it is in some ways not just man.  It is the fact that they do not benefit from their great labor.  They toil, as previous posters stated, until they have used up every last bit of their usefulness but they do not get to enjoy the fruits of that labor, man does.  So the cause of their problems is the fact that Man profits from their work, he gets their eggs, their strength plows his fields, he eats the meat they grow on their bodies, etc.  So once they are free of Man, "the produce of [their] labour would be [their] own.

What does Old Major identify as the cause of the animals' problems in Animal Farm?

Major, when he addresses the group of animals that have met together at the beginning of the story, clearly is going to tell them something momentous, as he starts his speech by saying this will be his legacy as he feels he is about to die soon. He goes on to sketch out the grim existence that an animal can hope to enjoy in this life, especially given the way that they are worked so hard and fed only enough to be able to do that work. Finally, he points towards the major problem behind this condition, which is made all the worse because of the bounty that surrounds them: man. Note what he says:

Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in one single word--Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.

The biggest problem faced by the animals therefore is Man, because it is Man who enslaves them and uses them and takes the fruit of their labours away from them.

What, in your opinion, caused the downfall of Animal Farm?

We might argue that the greed of the pigs and the corruption they display is the cause of the farm falling away from its ideals and principles. 

We might argue, alternatively, that the pigs were allowed to take more power than they deserved and were not challenged enough by the other animals. The gullibility of the animals coupled with their desires to 1) keep Jones from returning at all costs and 2) live a life of ease can be cited as the reasons that Jones does return (in the guise of Napoleon) and a life of ease always escapes them. 

Yearning for a paradise of their own, the animals choose again and again to believe that they have achieved it instead of keeping their leaders in check. 

Another argument to be made is that the farm's downfall is due mainly to the animals lack of intellect. When they are fooled, they only sense this is the case. They are incapable of proving it. 

What, in your opinion, caused the downfall of Animal Farm?

I think that there might be a couple of ways to approach this particular question.  On one hand, it can be argued that the farm does not suffer a downfall.  Napoleon has brokered contracts and agreements with his neighbors and the farm will probably experience a great deal of success.  If one argues that the farm suffers from a downfall, it is because they believe that the leadership has deviated from its goals in the revolution.  The fact that the farm has become more of the same under Jones, the name of it has reverted back to its original state, and that the animals peering through the window are unable to tell the difference between the humans and the pigs all serve to represent how far the farm has come from its professed aims of change.  In viewing the farm in this manner, one concludes that the farm is a failure because it has done everything that Old Major warned against in his speech.  The farm is not a source of liberation for the animals, but rather a source of repression for them.  Yet, this is precisely Orwell's point in that there is a difference between declaring independence and maintaining it.  There is a difference between those who fight for freedom and those who maintain political control.  This becomes one of the basic themes of the work and being able to judge the leadership of the farm becomes one of the central points of the novel.

What, in your opinion, caused the downfall of Animal Farm?

There are a few ways in which to answer this question.

First, we can say that the farm failed from the beginning. At first it failed, because Mr. Jones did not really care about the farm or the animals. He was not diligent or caring, and at times he would get so drunk that he would neglect the farm altogether.

When the rebellion took place, it started off well, but there was a conflict among the leadership.  Napoleon finally drove out Snowball.  This act was another reason why the farm failed, because of the two pigs, Snowball was the more intelligent, better organizer, and the one who had a vision.

However, the greatest reason for the failure on the farm, in my opinion, is rooted in Napoleon’s plan for the farm.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  When Napoleon took complete control of the farm and introduced a reign of terror, he guaranteed that the farm would fail.  In fact, by the end of the story, we come back to where the story started, as Napoleon becomes a corrupt man, indistinguishable from a human.