Editing Luddite (section)

== Peak activity: 1811–1817 ==
{{See also|Barthélemy Thimonnier#Sewing machine riot}}
The Luddite movement emerged during the harsh economic climate of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], which saw a rise in difficult working conditions in the new textile factories. Luddites objected primarily to the rising popularity of automated textile equipment, threatening the jobs and livelihoods of skilled workers as this technology allowed them to be replaced by cheaper and less skilled workers.<ref name="Conniff">{{Cite news |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ |title=What the Luddites Fought Against |last=Conniff |first=Richard |date=March 2011 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=2016-10-19 |language=en |archive-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114073322/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2021}}  The movement began in [[Arnold, Nottinghamshire]], on 11 March 1811 and spread rapidly throughout England over the following two years.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Beckett|first1=John|title=Luddites|url=http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/people/luddites.htm|website=The Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway|publisher=[[Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire]]|access-date=2 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092454/http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/people/luddites.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Conniff /> The British economy suffered greatly in 1810 to 1812, especially in terms of high unemployment and inflation. The causes included the high cost of the wars with Napoleon, Napoleon's [[Continental System]] of economic warfare, and [[War of 1812|escalating conflict with the United States.]] The crisis led to widespread protest and violence, but the middle classes and upper classes strongly supported the government, which used the army to suppress all working-class unrest, especially the Luddite movement.<ref>Roger Knight, ''Britain Against Napoleon'' (2013), pp. 410–412</ref><ref>Francois Crouzet, ''Britain Ascendant'' (1990) pp. 277–279</ref>

The Luddites met at night on the [[Moorland|moors]] surrounding industrial towns to practice military-like drills and manoeuvres. Their main areas of operation began in [[Nottinghamshire]] in November 1811, followed by the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]] in early 1812, and then [[Lancashire]] by March 1813. They wrecked specific types of machinery that posed a threat to the particular industrial interests in each region. In the Midlands, these were the "wide" knitting frames used to make cheap and inferior lace articles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Robinson |first2=James A. |title=Why nations fail: the origins of power, prosperity, and poverty |date=2012 |publisher=Crown Publishing |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780307719225 |page=101 |edition=1. |url=https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/book/why-nations-fail/ |access-date=2 November 2024}}</ref> In the North West, weavers sought to eliminate the steam-powered looms threatening wages in the cotton trade. In Yorkshire, workers opposed the use of shearing frames and gig mills to finish woolen cloth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Binfield |first=Kevin |title=Writings of the Luddites |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2004 |isbn=1421416964 |pages=34 |chapter=Northwestern Luddism}}</ref>

Many Luddite groups were highly organized and pursued machine-breaking as one of several tools for achieving specific political ends. In addition to the raids, Luddites  coordinated public demonstrations and the mailing of letters to local industrialists and government officials.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Rebels against the future: the Luddites and their war on the Industrial Revolution: lessons for the computer age|last = Sale|first = Kirkpatrick|publisher = Addison-Wesley Publishing Company|year = 1996|isbn = 0201407183|location = Reading|pages = 74–77|chapter = The Luddites: November–December 1811}}</ref> These letters explained their reasons for destroying the machinery and threatened further action if the use of "obnoxious" machines continued.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job|last = Mueller|first = Gavin|publisher = Verso|year = 2021|isbn = 978-1786636775|pages = 20|chapter = The Nights of King Ludd}}</ref> The writings of [[Midlands]] Luddites often justified their demands through the legitimacy of the Company of Framework Knitters, a recognized public body that already openly negotiated with [[Master craftsman|masters]] through named representatives. In [[North West England]], textile workers lacked these long-standing trade institutions and their letters composed an attempt to achieve recognition as a united body of tradespeople. As such, they were more likely to include petitions for governmental reforms, such as increased minimum wages and the cessation of child labor. Northwestern Luddites were also more likely to use radical language linking their movement to that of American and French revolutionaries. In [[Yorkshire]], the letter-writing campaign shifted to more violent threats against local authorities viewed as complicit in the use of offensive machinery to exert greater commercial control over the labor market.

In [[Yorkshire]], the croppers (who were highly skilled and highly paid) faced mass unemployment due to the introduction of cropping machines by Enoch Taylor of Marsden.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marsden History Group |url=https://www.marsdenhistory.co.uk/marsden-foundry.php |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.marsdenhistory.co.uk |archive-date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418160416/https://www.marsdenhistory.co.uk/marsden-foundry.php |url-status=live }}</ref> This sparked the Luddite movement among the croppers of Yorkshire, who used a power hammer dubbed "Enoch" to break the frames of the cropping machines. They called it Enoch to mock Enoch Taylor, and when they broke the frames they purportedly shouted "Enoch made them, and Enoch shall break them."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enoch the Power Hammer |url=https://www.nigeltyas.co.uk/nigel-tyas-news/post/enoch-the-power-hammer.html |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.nigeltyas.co.uk |language=en |archive-date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418160414/https://www.nigeltyas.co.uk/nigel-tyas-news/post/enoch-the-power-hammer.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Luddites clashed with government troops at Burton's Mill in [[Middleton, Greater Manchester|Middleton]] and at [[Westhoughton Mill]], both in Lancashire.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Radicalism and Reform in Britain, 1780–1850|last = Dinwiddy|first = J.R.|publisher = Hambledon Press|year = 1992|isbn = 9781852850623|location = London|pages = 371–401|chapter = Luddism and Politics in the Northern Counties|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hI2tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA371}}</ref> The Luddites and their supporters anonymously sent death threats to, and possibly attacked, magistrates and food merchants. Activists smashed Heathcote's lace making machine in Loughborough in 1816.{{sfn|Sale|1995|p=188}} He and other industrialists had secret chambers constructed in their buildings that could be used as hiding places during an attack.<ref>{{cite news|title=Workmen discover secret chambers|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/4791069.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=31 December 2012|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224043837/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/4791069.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1817 [[Jeremiah Brandreth]], an unemployed Nottingham [[stockinger (occupation)|stockinger]] and probable ex-Luddite, led the [[Pentrich Rising]]. While this was a general uprising unrelated to machinery, it can be viewed as the last major Luddite act.<ref>Summer D. Leibensperger,  "Brandreth, Jeremiah (1790–1817) and the Pentrich Rising." ''The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest'' (2009): 1–2.</ref>