It’s not clear whether Ned Ludd actually existed, but legend has it that he accidentally broke textile factory machinery, and any equipment damaged thereafter—either mistakenly or in protest of automation—would be blamed on Ludd.25 When the desperate weavers formed an urban guerrilla army in 1811, they declared General Ludd their leader.26 These Luddites, as they were known, revolted against factory owners—they first directed their violence primarily at the machines, but bloodshed soon ensued. The movement ended with the imprisonment and hanging of prominent Luddite leaders by the British
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