Who were the Luddites? | The Battle of Rawfolds Mill 1812

[Music] between 1811 and 1817 Lancashire cotton Weaver's yorkshare framework knitters the Midlands croppers began attacking mills and smashing the labor-saving machinery they blamed for their hardships they were called the Luddites after a fictional youth named Ned Ludd who had reputedly been the first to smash the new machinery in a fit of rage in 1811 alone some 1,000 frames valued at over six thousand pounds were destroyed leading the government to make machine smashing an offence punishable by death the riot soon spread across Yorkshire and Lancashire and here at the National Archives we can read the account of the attack on Rufus mill owned by William Cartwright Cartwright describes how he had put his mill under military guard because Civic power was no longer found to a full protection to individuals and their property he went on to say how he had secured the windows and doors and that five soldiers and several of his workmen had been sleeping at the property on beds provided by him for approximately six weeks already in anticipation of an attack on the mill a detachment of cavalry was also positioned in the neighbourhood and a bell placed on top of the mill so that the alarm could be raised if needed a mr. Hale then describes what happened when the Luddites approached the mill a great deal of firing and ransacking took place and it continued for about 20 minutes from both sides a great many of the windows were broke by firing into the mill and with sticks the door was knocked down but no entrance could be obtained when several of the aforesaid were wounded they were obliged to run away and they scampered in other directions from the testimonies of those involved in the attack and later arrested and questioned it is clear the Luddites were armed and well organized William Hill for example describes how George Miller commanded the group and was armed with a bayonet and bludgeon William fought commanded the pistols Jonathan Dean was armed with a hatchet and John Ogden was armed with a sword despite these arms and preparations the Luddites were seen off by the soldiers and two of them killed the Battle of Rafat smil was not the only time soldiers were used against the Luddites as the government took a firm line culminating in hanging of 17 Luddites at York in 1813 while the peak of the Luddite rious was relatively short-lived taking place between 1811 and 1813 their name has lived on to describe those opposed to industrialization and particularly automation for some historians though Luddism was more than just an economic protest it was an early expression of working-class political consciousness a son demanded not just the removal of the machines but they're a form of parliament as well [Music] [Music] you