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Title Writings of the Luddites / edited by Kevin Binfield
Published Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, ©2004

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Description 1 online resource (279 pages)
Contents Foreword / Adrian Randall -- Introduction -- Midlands Luddism -- Northwestern Luddism -- Yorkshire Luddism -- Midlands documents -- Northwestern documents -- Yorkshire documents
Summary "As mechanization spread through the British cloth industries in the early nineteenth century, skilled textile workers, already suffering because of a generally weak economy, high unemployment, and the weakening of traditional guides, saw their wages and jobs erode further. Earlier efforts to block the introduction of powered machinery through legislation had failed, and in 1811 loosely organized bands of workers, striking most often by night - first in the Midlands, then in Yorkshire and Northwestern England - began destroying the new knitting frames and other equipment. Claiming as their leader the probably mythical Ned Ludd, they became known as Luddites. Although best known for violent action, the Luddite movement also produced a considerable body of writing, from threatening letters, to petitions and proclamations, to poems and songs. In this book, literary scholar Kevin Binfield collects a broad range of complete texts written by Luddites or their sympathizers from 1811 to 1816, adding detailed notes on each and organizing them according to the three major regions of Luddite activity." "To introduce the volume Binfield provides a historical overview of the Luddites, then examines more closely their rhetorical strategies while illuminating the literary contexts of their writings. Ranging from judicious to bloodthirsty in tone, the texts reveal a fascination with legal forms of address and an acute awareness of the recent political revolutions in France and America, and reflect also the more personal forms of Romantic literature. As Adrian Randall of the University of Birmingham concludes in his foreword, this collection of diverse, carefully presented texts clearly demonstrates the significance of Luddite writings within the movement and serves as an important reference for scholars of rhetoric and of the history of labor, technology, and society."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-271) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
Print version record
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject Luddites -- Sources
Sabotage in the workplace -- England -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Textile workers -- England -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Riots -- England -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Regency -- England -- Sources
HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain.
Luddites -- Sources.
Regency -- England -- Sources.
Riots -- England -- History -- Sources. -- 19th century.
Sabotage in the workplace -- England -- History -- Sources. -- 19th century.
Textile workers -- England -- History -- Sources. -- 19th century.
Luddites
Regency
Riots
Sabotage in the workplace
Textile workers
Arbeiteraufstand
Ludditen
Textilindustrie
Sabotage
Luddites -- Sources.
Sabotage -- Angleterre (GB) -- Histoire -- 19e siècle -- Sources.
Industrie textile -- Personnel -- Angleterre (GB) -- Histoire -- 19e siècle -- Sources.
Émeutes -- Angleterre (GB) -- Histoire -- 19e siècle -- Sources.
Régence -- Angleterre (GB) -- Sources.
SUBJECT Great Britain -- History -- 1789-1820 -- Sources
Subject Great Britain -- 1789-1820. -- History.
England
Great Britain
Grande-Bretagne -- Histoire -- 19e siècle -- Sources.
Genre/Form History
Sources
Form Electronic book
Author Binfield, Kevin
ISBN 9781421419176
1421419173