5. An anti-factory movement emerged in Nottingham during the Regency
As factories using machines to manufacture products grew in number, a faction emerged known as the Luddites. Named for a fictional weaver named Nathan Ludd, the Luddites feared modernized factories. They believed the new machines, particularly weaving machines, produced goods cheaply and drove skilled craftsmen out of business. The Luddites organized as a secret society, led riots in factories to destroy machines such as stocking frames and looms, and clashed with troops of the British Army. Owners of manufacturing facilities and other modernized businesses received death threats. The British economy, already strained by the long war with Napoleon, lapsed further.
The Luddites considered themselves loyal subjects of the realm, and rebelled against what they saw were threats to their livelihood. Working conditions in the newly emerging factories were harsh, with long hours and low pay. Yet the Luddites gained little sympathy from millworkers. In January 1813, following a massive Luddite riot at a mill in Rawfold the government cracked down. About 30 Luddites were convicted of various violations of the law, with some executed and others sentenced to transportation to the penal colonies in Australia. In 1813 more British troops fought with Luddite bands across England and Wales than were engaging the French armies in Spain. The term Luddite came to be used to describe those fearful of or resistant to new technology, sometimes modified in modern usage to “neo-Luddite”.
