Question

Look at the figures, then reread the source. Explain why many workers were opposed to the use of the Spinning Jenny.

A magistrate reported in 1790 about an incident when he was called in to protect a manufacturer’s property from being attacked by workers: ‘From the depredations of a lawless Banditti of colliers and their wives, for the wives had lost their work to spinning engines... they advanced at first with much insolence, avowing their intention of cutting to pieces the machine lately introduced in the woollen manufacture; which they suppose, if generally adopted, will lessen the demand for manual labour. The women became clamorous. The men were more open to conviction and after some expostulation were induced to desist from their purpose and return peaceably home.’ J.L. Hammond and B. Hammond, The Skilled Labourer 1760-1832, quoted in Maxine Berg, The Age of Manufactures.

Answer 1

• Spinning Jenny was the machine that made yarn from several spindles from a single wheel.
• Previously, one wheel could only yarn one spindle. At the time, every member of the family worked and made money.
• But Spinning Jenny boosted productivity by allowing multiple spindles to be spun at once from a single wheel.
• This resulted in an increase in unemployment.

Therefore, many workers were opposed to the use of the spinning Jenny.