Industrial Revolution Primary Sources | The Luddites and Charlotte Brontë

The Luddites

Various documents attributed to the Luddites

Delivered in 1811

Charlotte Brontë

Excerpt from Shirley, a Tale

Published in 1849

"Misery generates hate."

—Charlotte Brontë

The introduction of newly invented water- or steam-powered machinery into England's textile industry, starting in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, had a major impact on workers right from the beginning. People skilled at making yarn or fabric with traditional hand-operated spinning machines or looms soon discovered that with the new equipment, one or two workers could produce the same amount of yarn or cloth as a dozen or more workers using the old machines. With fewer workers needed to produce the same amount of goods, jobs in textiles became harder to find. In 1811 near Nottingham, England, a group of...