This is where the story turns sour. With the rise of industrialization, the skilled manual work of cloth dressers was no longer needed and machines... and children.... did most of the work.
(Note: In this one case, Walker's painting does not do the subject justice.)
Children did not work in the mills prior to this time. Children had small hands and the machinery simplified the work. There was no need for skilled men, except for a lucky few who maintained the machinary or oversaw a batch of ten machines. Most of the cloth dressers were thus unemployed. They naturally rebelled.
The revolt was known as the Luddite "movement"... not up to the standard of a "revolution" as the authorities quickly overcame any resistance from the cloth dressers and other workmen who were rebelling. John Dixon was 12 years old at the height of the struggle.
There were a few killed and injured on both sides. A very few mill owners were killed and some mills were torched. New equipment was stolen and destroyed as the owners attempted to transport it to their mills. Of course, more of those rebelling were killed... by hanging usually. The families of those hanged were not allowed to retrieve the bodies. The bodies were donated to medical schools so that proper burials could be given.
The term Luddite is now given to any group that opposes the growth of technology in the workplace. I can think of some who really struggled as computers initially replaced typewriters. And think of all of the lost jobs at GM due to the use of "robotics".
It's just my theory, but I believe John Dixon probably brought his family to America so that his son and grandchildren would not become "factory children".
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