The What Lights?

When the Industrial Revolution had just begun to take storm allowing products such as textiles to be made with little to no skill, a band of people began to rise up. They were known as the Luddites and they were frustrated by how they had been in apprenticeship for so long just to have their jobs be taken away by people and machines with no skill. They came together and decided to protest against the big factories depriving them of money. They were able to sneak into factories and break the machines to send a message across. To bring awareness to the subject they even crossed dressed to grab people’s attention. Below this paragraph is a mock, primary source, letter meant to display the thoughts of people had about the Luddites. It is written from the perspective of a soldier who is conflicted between up keeping his vow of being a soldier and supporting the Luddite’s cause.

Dear Michael,

I am writing to you today because I have some thoughts that I need to get out my system and I cannot leave them lying around. For the fear that my higher ups will find them and escort me away. You probably have not heard of the new movement going on here since you live across the world but, these people refer to themselves as Luddites. Now, the Luddites consist mostly of people who have dedicated their whole lives to a specific craft. Such as my father who is a cobbler as you already know. They are upset by the fact that they know every single thing about their skill and are now not making any money due to the new mills that mass produce everything. They are losing so much money because although there merchandise is of higher quality, it is also very expensive compared to the mills pricing. So they banded together and started to riot the mills and now it is to the point where they are breaking in, destroying equipment, and setting the buildings ablaze.

I am currently positioned at a mill to guard the machines because it has become such a big problem. It’s so hard too, since I am so conflicted about everything now. The Luddites have a very good reason to protest and riot but, does it have to be at this level? For me, I think it does purely based on the fact that no one would blink an eye at them if they just tried to voice their opinions. You know what they say, actions speak louder than words. Since my father is a cobbler I am leaning more towards the Luddites than opposing them.

 As a soldier though I have given my word that I would protect these mills and do whatever I have been instructed. It’s a tough position to be in; I either continue on serving my country or serve against it. Both scenarios make my stomach flip at the mere thought of acting upon them. Our family here in England has never been rich, nor will we ever be. Because of the Industrialization the poverty is becoming worse. My father is receiving less and less jobs and barely selling any of his works. But, we cannot protest against the mills, since we are so poor and we cannot afford much else.

Also, if I am caught being for the Luddites while serving, what will they make of me? Will I become deported? If so our family is really in for trouble, we will have even less money than before. I really need help on this, what do you think I should do? For now I am going to lay low and follow my duties and be the silent cheerer whenever the Luddites have a successful break. I’m just so confused right now, I really need some advice, please reply as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

Richard Cormack  

P.s. here is a good representation of the severity of joining the Luddites cause

Hot Stuff: How the Steam Engine Fired Up the Industrial Revolution

Curating in general is a very important job because you want the viewer to be able receive the essential information about the exhibit piece as quickly as possible. This can become quite tricky as many pieces are packed full of history. It’s necessary to be able to choose what parts are more important to include verses others. This can require a lot of analysis, taking careful note on details that the common bystander would ignore. Then, take that information and pack it into a two sentence statement. Things to look for when analyzing a piece are what the creator wanted you to get out of it. Also, basic information such as the date of when it was created, the title and who exactly created it. We took precise and accurate notes on all the sources to get all the data spread out in front of us. We then highlighted the information we found to be most important and then displayed that on a small card. These are things that my group and I looked for when creating our exhibit on the Industrial Revolution.

                Our exhibit was about the sub group of the Industrial Revolution. How the latest invention of the steam engine advanced the revolution so much further. The first source is a diagram of a steam engine which displays the basic functions of it. It displays the science and why it was able to produce energy. Then, the map of major products produced in Great Britain called Map of Coal and Metal Production with Canals and Rivers in Great Britain. Made to represent the 1750’s to 1800’s. It shows that wool was made in less developed areas and metal was produced in more developed areas. Coal was produced towards the north. Next, we have Industrializing America, 1790-1850, a timeline display the advancements that occurred due to the invention of the steam engine and how it further improved daily life. There’s a photograph named Cutting at Blisworth on the London-Birmingham Line which shines light on all the man power used to cut open mountains to get from one place to another. The cuts in the mountain are ragged compared to how the rocks on the highways are cut which proves improvement because of the Industrial Revolution. Moving away from visual representations, we have letters written by Robert Fulton. He records the times and speeds his first ride on a steamboat went. I traveled a whopping 150 miles in thirty hours, which equates to five miles an hour. Which seems slow now but at the time it was faster than anything else at the time. Lastly, we have a debate on the railways one man named Wordsworth who is against them and Smiles who is all for them. Wordsworth’s was written in 1844 when the skepticism of the steam engine was present since it was so far out of their comfort zone. By the time Smiles writes his piece its 1859 and people have decided that this is a good idea and have been persuaded by time.

                Our exhibit title is Hot Stuff: How the Steam Engine Fired Up the Industrial Revolution. Our group came up with this because I really wanted a pun in our title. I was thinking about how hot was used for something being literally hot and important. The steam engine can be inserted for both definitions. I recommended just “Hot Stuff” as more of a base idea but they seemed to really enjoy the cheesiness of it. We then added onto it, with another pun, to make it clearer to the future viewers. I hope that people get the idea of how the steam engine was really a huge element in the Industrial Revolution. It got people and merchandise from one place to another very efficiently. It also carried out water from coal mines and coal made everything essentially run in the Industrial Revolution. In fact, we still use it as a power source today.  From walking around the other groups I got a sense of cohesiveness and a lot of data in short statements. They also color coordinated everything and it informed me a lot on what went on during the Industrial Revolution.