Transcription
9/16/13
i want to commemorate the burning of the oatlands mill in yorkshire, england on january 19, 1812 by a group of hosiery workers known to posterity as Luddites, with their faces blackened with pitch one team torched the entire mill & its machinery, while another team kept watch. as the flames rose higher toward the sky all of them lined up for a quick roll call, then they raised a cheer & match off in formation. Luddism was a movement that intended to roll back the power of capitalists who were transforming england from an agricultural economy in to one of round the clock industrial slavery. children were sent to the mills as soon as their hands were developed enough to operate machines & often lost their lives by falling into them. workers were forced to operate two machines at once, in poorly lit & unventilated spaces in order to liberate themselves from the technology that enslaved them, Luddies destroyed machines. although the Luddite movement was brutally suppressed over the following decade the boldness of their actions & their commitment to a more humane working environment inspires us even today
post for htt://betweenthebars.org/blogs/1991
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Replies (1)
Wow, thanks for such an interesting and unusual post here on BTB! British industrial history is a really fascinating topic, due to the fast amount of changes not just of technology but in voting, welfare and public health. It's sad that 'Luddite' has now become a word for someone who is irrationally afraid of technology, when the reality is so much more complex.
Elizabeth-Anne