Luddites

Luddites, the name assumed by the rioters in Yorkshire and other northern and midland counties, who, in 1811-12, and again in 1816, destroyed all the machinery on which they could lay their hands, supposing that its introduction had caused the prevalent distress. The name was taken from Ned Ludd, a Leicestershire idiot, who had destroyed some stocking-frames about thirty years before.