Named after their mythical leader “General Ned Ludd”, the Luddites were bands of angry weavers who between 1811-16 sabotaged the new weaving frames which had been invented by Cartwright in 1785 [q.v.] and were now being driven by steam engines and so becoming more widespread. The first Luddite activity was near Nottingham – famous for its hosiery and lace weaving – in March 1811 when sixty stocking-frames were destroyed in the night in the village of Arnold. Whilst this rioting continued for several weeks, such unrest was not very unusual. However, in November 1811 frame-breaking reappeared in highly organised form with small groups of disciplined men moving rapidly through the night and attacking well-chosen targets.. The Luddites could pose sophisticated and specific political…
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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Luddites". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 February 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=678, accessed 20 April 2024.]
