Spinning Jenny Provoked Violent Backlash

In 1764, English inventor James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, enabling a single worker to spin eight threads at once, instead of one spindle. This caused a massive increase in yarn production. Other spinners feared that the machine would take their jobs and in 1768 a group broke into Hargreaves’ home and smashed his machines. The attack drove Hargreaves and his family from Blackburn to Nottingham, where he set up a small spinning mill. Hargreaves patented the machine in 1770, but he gained little in royalties as it was copied by others.

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