Laurence Fitzwilliam Essay

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Between the years 1811 and 1816, a notorious group of English textile workers known as the Luddites protested against newly developed labour-economising technologies.
Laurence Fitzwilliam was a man not known for having a particularly short temperament. But today, his brow was set low today for upon waking up, he was greeted with the unpleasant sight of smoke drifting out of one of the textile mills like that which escaped from the lips of a smoker. As he wandered among the charred beams of his factory, it was evident that his misfortune had not been dealt by nature but rather by a spiteful individual. Or individuals, as indicated by the several hammers and pikes that remained scattered on the ground. Furthermore, upon closer inspection of the hammers abandoned, it was evident that his own staff were responsible. These uncivilised rural folk would pay heavily for this.
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For many of the men congregated within the room, their hopes for an end to their oppression hadn’t always been so potent. Idealism was a value that was often reserved for the affluent. For those who could afford to look beyond their own family. However, many …show more content…

He had been shut in there for several hours reading and re-reading the letter than now lay upon his desk. It was a letter which would ordinarily be turned over for use as scribbling paper but the recent destruction of Westhoughton Mill had kept his hands fixed to the sheet. His eyes perused through the passage more slowly this time capturing the message which could now not be mistaken. He glanced outside towards the factory; a stark black against the bright blue sky: an unsightly blemish with an obnoxious inside: men toiling away for hours for wages even Fitzwilliam admitted/conceded was meagre. He wished to go back to his childhood days when a farmer’s life beckoned and for once Fitzwilliam regretted the Industrial revolution which had driven his rise from the proletariat to the

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