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Impact of Industrial Revolution
Impact of Industrial Revolution
The impact of industrial revolution
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of Industrial Revolution
Impact of Industrial Revolution
The impact of industrial revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Sign Although the evidence pulled by the the distraught citizens is strong, owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris along with their lawyer Max Steuer have the right to defend themselves and give their side of the case. They claim that they locked the doors in order to keep the workers from stealing as said back in the History.com article when it states “There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward.” This quote plainly shows how the doors stopped the workers from exiting. Going along with that, some workers of the factory even said that the doors were actually unlocked and that there was no way to prove that the doors were locked.
Many people might say, why was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire so important? The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was so important because it was a tragedy that opened the nation's eyes to poor working conditions in garment factories. Other question might be ask why were the doors locked in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? The building had only one fire escape, Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims. Panicked workers were crushed as they struggled with doors that were locked by managers to prevent theft, or doors that opened the wrong way.
On March 25, 1911, a fire started at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that claimed the lives of one hundred and forty-six workers. As a result of the fire, trials and debates occurred that contended the factory owners right to control their business against their duty to implement safe working conditions for their employees. Despite the trial resulting in no charges for the business owners the triangle fire is responsible for stricter safety codes and brought attention on the labor movement. In order to fully understand the changes that resulted because of the shirtwaist fire, you must first know what life was life prior to the fire.
The triangle shirtwaist company was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris and was located on the Greene Street in Manhattan. Most of the workers were teenaged girls that worked long hours daily. Most were immigrants and knew little English. In March 25, 1911 a fire was initiated at the top of the Asch Building where the company was located. How the fire started is still a mystery.
Despite the death and destruction it caused, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire ultimately benefited America by opening the eyes of mistreated factory workers and inspiring them to fight for better working conditions. Though it was unbeknownst at the time, the fire would inspire mistreated workers to rise out of the ashes and work tirelessly not for a factory, but for their own wellbeing. The history, the fire, and the trial that are all connected to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company are the events that led to the exploration for better working conditions. While we may not wish to remember all of the suffering the conflagration caused, we see its imprint it left on society whenever we see someone at work. This just imprint is one of safety.
Frances Perkins, a survivor from the Shirtwaist Factory Fire quotes “Moved by this sense of stricken guilt, we banded ourselves together to find a way by law to prevent this kind of disaster.” Frances Perkins became secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and this quote said by Perkins “something must be done. We’ve got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action,” helped new workplace safety standards into law in the state of New York. The benefits that I would like the audience to see is how workplace safety is important by learning about the history of regulation, OSHA, and workers compensation.
Max and his business partner, Isaac Harris, owned the factory, which was located in the heart of New York City. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the factory, killing 146 people, mostly young women. The fire was a turning point in American history, sparking widespread outrage and leading to major changes in workplace safety laws. However, Max and Isaac were widely criticized for their role in the tragedy.
One of the main reasons the fire took such a psychological toll on the New Yorkers was because of the workers jumping to there deaths. One witness even remarked the event saying quote 'I know a new sound a terrible sound the sound of a body hitting the pavement". The inferno was also not an uncommon occurrence the triangle shirt was burned before the tragedy to collect insurance money. Knowing this information, many Jewish and women workers went on strike to secure improved working conditions. There strike in fact proved successful with the New York state legislature creating the Factory Investigating Commission.
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire caught the imagination of Progressives and validated their arguments about the American economy. The factory fire broke out in late March and claimed the lives of over one hundred workers. This factory was what seemed like a normal factory in New York City on the outside, but had dangerous and unsanitary working conditions on the inside that remained unknown until the fire broke out. This calamity would help to bring new laws and regulations on factory conditions and rights for their workers.
Trapped Inside the Blaze On “March 25, 1911 one of the deadliest industrial disasters” in US history took place in New York City (Wiki paragraph 1). The fire caused 146 deaths and many more injuries of the workers in the Asch building. It took place on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors. Many of the workers who couldn’t escape the blaze decided to jump of the building to their deaths so their bodies could be recognized.
Workers worked around ten to twelve hours a day in frequently unsafe conditions which would often lead to deadly accidents (Library of Congress). One of the most prolific accidents in the U.S. industry because of unsafe work conditions was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. According to History.com, the factory employed 600 teenage girls who did not speak English to work twelve hours a day, every day. There was only one operable elevator and the fire escape was so narrow that it would have taken hours for all the workers to use it (History.com). The owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, refused to install sprinkler systems and other safety measures, hence making the factory completely unsafe (History.com).
On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in Manhattan. In the top three floors there were around 600 employees, mostly all teenage girls. It is unknown why the fire started but they think it was because of a carelessly thrown out cigarette butt. The workers were trapped inside of the factory because the doors was locked from the outside to force them to keep working, lack of fire exits,
The detrimental Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is considered to be one of the most tragic disasters in history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out and killed 146 garment workers who were mostly women. These women worked countless hours with low wages and inhumane working conditions in a factory. Even though this event was tragic, the triangle shirtwaist fire helped to shape the new world for the better. The multitude of workers trapped within the inferno to their demise was the final straw for the mistreatment of America’s workers.
In April 2013, Matthew Yglesias, an American Economics Journalist proposed the people of Bangladesh would not appreciate having stronger safety standards in their country because it would cause undue harm economically. He asserts Bangladesh should have different lower standards for safety because they are a poorer country. Most of the people involved in the New York tragedy of 1911 also known as the Triangle Fire, would not agree with Matthew Yglesias on his assertion that lower economic status would be an indication of lower safety standards in factories. Namely, the workers, the union leaders, the progressive reformers and the political leaders would all vote for higher standards commiserate with the United States. The only ones who would not argue with Yglesias are the owners of the Triangle Factory with their vested interest, their own problems of multiple fires and accusations of safety neglect.
In a capitalist environment, at least where corporations have been concerned, the government should neither intervene or regulate the open market. In fact, the essence of the capitalist economic system is to create an environment where the free market would be able to dictate itself. Regardless of the system’s original intentions, there have been cases globally and throughout time where government intervention has been necessary — cases where the general public itself has been affected negatively by corporate abuse of the market. For instance, the United States’ public-corporate relationship throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Throughout this period, which was known as the Progressive Era, industrial America