Artifact Three

Kimberworth Times

Herbert Chang

February 12, 1812

Kimberworth Factories Assaulted by Luddites Again

Messages have been intercepted by officials regarding the assault upon textile machinery in Yorkshire. It is confirmed that the Luddites were once again behind the destruction of the looms in a factory stationed in Kimberworth. It resulted the loss of four spinning jennies and a net loss of around 3000 Pounds Sterling (To view the change of the British currency to the gold standard, go to page four). The government warns that behavior in association with rioting mobs will weigh upon the penalty of death or imprisonment. The recently passed frame-breaking act by the House of Lords states the act of destroying frames is punishable by death. Yet perhaps the Luddites have shed light upon the dark side of the Industrial Revolution. Not only is technology not neutral and harmful to society, but it also makes employees see the working class as a passive unit, and perhaps reduces the standard of living of the working class, such as decreasing the minimum wage four years ago and the Combination Acts that suppressed the freedom of  the working populace. We are in an age of change, where major changes in established patterns of work threaten more than just capital income, but negatively influence status, security, and social structures of each individual community. The Yorkshire Times would like to vocalize concern regarding the cohesion between the government and the working class, as the welfare of our nation is built upon the welfare of its people.

Suggested Focus Questions:

1. How was the Yorkshire textile industry organised in 1801?

It was organized as a family a unit, where the hard crafted textiles were still prevalent on the market. The children help carrying the wool and straightening it while the women and males weave it. Men also crop it, to make the edges smooth. The slightly more well off families can also hire others, and thus the working class rely upon each other to feed their individual families. At this time, some work such as cropping may present certain health factors as well as technique.

2. How was the textile industry changing by 1812?

Machinery became the major force in textile production. The people who worked remained the same, just the ability and pay changed. Since there was less risk and less technique required, the wages also decreased. Since hand made textiles were also of less efficiency when made, they have been replaced by the complex system of frames.

3. Who were the Luddites? What were their methods of protest?

Luddites were people who protested against the creation and adaption of machinery to produce textiles, as it would render them jobless. They protested by destroying textile machinery, such as textile mills, in various ways.

4. What did it mean to be "twisted in"? Why was this so dangerous?

To be twisted in means you are part of the group called the Luddites. You are officially one of them and present great risks at the hand of punishment under the current regime, due to the myriad of laws that were passed.

5. Who was General/Ned Ludd?

General Ludd may or may not be a mythical person, who was said to have organized the Luddites and break textile machinery. It was common to find notes signed by General Ludd after Luddite attacks.

6. Why were the Luddites prepared to risk their lives protesting? (lots of reasons for this one)

They were ready to risk their lives as they felt with the growth of machinery they gradually lost status and value, rendering them a hard life. They would pounce upon any chance for a better life. They also believed that if machines were destroyed, they would still have jobs.

7. Why were mill owners and the government so worried? How did they respond to the Luddites?

Since the protesting was of large scale, mill owners were afraid they would be caught up in a fight and obviously fear for their own welfare. Both the government and mill owners feared a loss in income if machinery were to be destroyed.

8. How were the Luddites punished?

According to the site, they were either sentenced capital punishment or imprisoned in Austrailia.

Reflection Questions:

1. a) Which main topic does the artifact relate to? In what ways?

This touches heavily upon invention, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship, which indirectly ties into urbanization and the modern economy. The reason why entrepreneurs adapted machinery was to increase income with the growing demand of the market, since there was an explosion of population in cities.

    b) Which other main topics does it also relate to?

Balance of power, though not in terms of different Empires, but the balance of power within an empire. Also migration, as you can trace the production of clothing. Before the 18^th century, clothing was produced everywhere, but with urbanization and the introduction of machinery, the production of clothing shifted towards cities.

2. Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and/or processing it?

There were several other artifacts that I used, including an interesting read called “Before the Luddites” and provided me insights regarding the subjects. The simulation and typing this up took around 2 hours.

3. What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?

A transition between ages can never be smooth and a change in innovation as large scale as the Industrial Revolution is bound to cause unrest. When people are entrenched in insecurity, they tend to vent their anger towards the source of change, in the case of luddites textile manufacture. This doesn’t only apply to the industrial revolution since we are in an era of great change and adaptation as well, and we should be more open minded of the changes that are present today.

4. Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?

This is one of my better artifacts.XD

5. Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5(0 is neutral) for the following 4 criterion:

    a) Impact on the quality of your Portfolio

4

    b) Impact on your level of happiness/enjoyment

Interactive and interesting

    c) Impact on your learning

Certainly gives more of an initiative than text. 3

    d) Level of creativity and originality

4

The simulation was an interesting way to show pockets of the Luddites, but I think it failed to represent the life before the introduction of machinery well enough.

6. Any additional comments.

I tried to fit everything into the questions above.

For Those who are interested, here is the book I read (Warning: It takes a long time to read and I didn't finish it, if you have a life, ignore the following link):

Before the Luddites

Apparently you can leave your message RIGHT HERE, so you don't need to go to some forum. HOW CONVENIENT!