The Luddite

movement
Read this infographic about
the Luddites in England.

The Luddites were named after

‘General Ned Ludd’, a mythical
figure who lived in Sherwood
Forest and supposedly led the
movement.

They began in Nottinghamshire in 1811 and quickly spread

throughout the country, especially to Yorkshire and Lancashire in
1812. In Yorkshire, they wanted to destroy the new machines and
technologies that were causing the lack of jobs among workers.

Workers sent threatening letters to employers and broke into

factories to destroy the new machines. They also attacked
employers, magistrates and food merchants. There were fights
between Luddites and government soldiers..

Contrary to what is believed, the Luddites were not enemies

of technology and industrialization. In fact, many of them
were skilled in using these machines. What they didn't like
was the idea that mechanization would destroy their lives
and the skills they had spent years mastering. They
protested against salary reduction and unemployment.
“They just wanted machines that made high-quality goods,
and they wanted these machines to be run by workers who
were skilled and who got paid decent salaries. Those were
their only concerns.”
The British government ultimately dispatched 12,000
troops to suppress Luddite activity. In 1812, the parliament
condemned the Luddites to death. Also, government
officials wanted to stop the Luddite movement with a
mass judgement at York in January 1813. The government
charged over 60 men with various crimes in connection
with Luddite activities.

The harsh sentences of those considered guilty, which

included execution, quickly ended the movement.
Parliament made "machine breaking" (in other words,
industrial sabotage) a capital crime.

Sources: https://www.historic-
uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Luddites/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-
luddites-really-fought-against-264412/