This secret society of criminals had a fake leader, but their grievances were very real. Were the Luddites just a bunch of anti-technology cranks, or was there more to their machine breaking movement?
Featured image: Frame-breakers smashing a loom. (Image source)
A cartoon of Ned Ludd. I think he may be depicted in a dress here because some Luddite attacks were done in drag, with men dressed as “Ludd’s wives.” (Image source)
A stocking frame, an early form of machine that could knit automatically. (Image source)
Sources
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- Who Were the Luddites?
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- What the Luddites Really Fought Against
- The Search for ‘General Ludd’: The Mythology of Luddism
- The Riot Act
- 20th April 1812: A young Mancunian man is ‘twisted-in ‘
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- Yorkshire Luddites Threaten the Owner of a Mechanized Factory
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- 20th April 1812: Attack on Burton’s Mill at Middleton – Day 1
- 21st April 1812: Attack on Burton’s Mill at Middleton – Day 2
- There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – what can we learn from the Luddites?
- Were more troops sent to quash the Luddites than to fight Napoleon?
- War of 1812 Facts
- Planet Money: When Luddites Attack
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