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. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire led to imperative reforms that sought for adequate conditions for workers and the advent of the Progressive Era. (Source 2). The United States was in the middle of the Second Industrial Revolution at the beginning of the twentieth century. Many of the rural population migrated into cities for jobs, while immigrants from Europe also added to the growth of the cities. As a result, from 1860 to 1900 alone, the number of urban areas in the United States expanded fivefold (Source 2). The immigrants who desperately needed employment and the greed of factory owners made the rise of sweat shops astonishing. Around the country low-paid immigrants, including women and children, worked for excessively long …show more content…
After the fire, the horrible event made factories transparent to Americans and Americans realized that industrial workers were being treated unfairly. The tragedy exposed the inhumane working conditions that the industrial workers had to the government also, so social reform became the nation’s number one issue to focus on. Countless state and federal laws were passed in direct relation to this incident. This event affects Americans today because it played a key role in the laws and regulation we have in the