ipl-logo

How Did The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Of 1911

745 Words3 Pages

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 was the deadliest workplace accident in New York history. Most of the workers in the factory were immigrants who came to America for a better future. Their dream was economic security, which they saw in America. Getting a job in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a desired position, even if the job consisted of fourteen hour work days, six days a week. At most, the workers would take home $2 a day. The most troubling factor is that the payout of $2 was before being docked for any needles, thread and electricity used. Sometimes, they would be left with nothing at the end of the day, unable to feed their families. After 20 years, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was getting Stale. Fashion editors …show more content…

The workers were requesting unionization of the work place. In my opinion, the most persuasive argument is that of the workers and their request to have the factory unionized, which would create a contractual relationship that covers all workers in the factory with respect to wages, hours and work conditions. It would diminish Harris and Blanck’s authority. Harris and Blanck used private detective agencies to provide replacement workers. They even hired prostitutes to start fights with the workers on strike and paid off local …show more content…

Blanck and Harris were warned by phone and escaped by going up to the roof and crossing the building next door. No one notified the sewing machine operators on the ninth floor. Once the workers started to see and smell the smoke, the everyday exit was already blocked by smoke and fire. Many of the workers ran towards the fire escape or the 2 passenger elevators. The only precaution was 12 red buckets of water. Workers started jumping into the elevator shaft in hopes of climbing down or riding the top of the elevator. The final hope was the locked door, but no one had the key. The firemen showed up but the ladder only reached the sixth floor. Women started jumping from the buildings. In total, 146 lives were taken by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

Show More
Related

Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy In The Industry During The Gilded Age

857 Words | 4 Pages

Dehron McMillian History 1302 Dr. Adkins-Weathersby 28 September 2014 Triangle Shirtwaist Company March 25, 1911 identified as the day of the dead, is the deadliest disaster in the industry during the Gilded Age. Over forty-six bodies lie on the street, meanwhile hundred bodies lie inside of the building. The factory took up the top three floors of a ten-story building in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York. The workers were mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant’s women along with children, sewing blouses, to earn an income as little as three dollars a week.

Read More

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Isaac Harris And Max Blanck

522 Words | 3 Pages

They saw themselves as benefactors for the poor, and if the poor complained, they were biting the hand that fed them. Harris and Blanck paid police officers, prostitutes, and bodyguards to do as much damage as possible to the Shirtwaist employees. Anne Morgan, a daughter of a rich businessman, took up the Shirtwaist workers cause and helped them fight for fairer wages and hours. When Harris and Blanck realized that sales were dropping from the lack of shirts being made, they offered a deal to the workers: shorter hours and more pay, but no union. The workers did not like this request and turned it down, causing Morgan to leave their efforts, saying she wasn’t for the socialist cause.

Read More

Research Paper On The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911

556 Words | 3 Pages

Most of the people who were working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were on a strike before the fire for working rights and safety precautions. If the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory followed the safety precautions the strike was proposing, the fire could have been prevented, and would have saved many lives. According to source 5, the doors were locked, long wooden tables became obstacles, and boxes crowded the exit. All of that could have easily been prevented. Also, higher class people were also involved in the strike which made it bigger and more popular to people.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

738 Words | 3 Pages

First, the acting fire department commissioner could have enforced the owners and workers to participate in fire drills. These drills could have deterred the number of employees that traveled to the roof and prevented the number of employees that ultimately jumped to their death. While New York at the time was working on passing stricter factory fire protection laws, there should have been more fire inspections at this particular facility due to the four previous fires that had occurred. When we look closely at this fire, blueprints show that the stairwells were only a mere 33 inches wide. With the amount of workers entering and exiting this building 33 inches is not enough when large quantities of people must exit quickly while fire personnel is coming to distinguish any fires.

Read More

Why Did The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

192 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

521 Words | 3 Pages

It was known as a true sweatshop. The workers were mostly young immigrant women who did not speck English, which worked twelve hour days every day. Noticing that safety laws weren’t permitted then neither were child labor laws. There were only four elevators that reached the floors which the Factory was located. Unfortunately only one of those elevators was working at the time of the fire.

Read More

How Did The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Benefit America?

1557 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

Triangle Factory Fire Dbq

239 Words | 1 Pages

Another result of the Triangle Factory fire that resulted in change in the American workplace was the attempts of labor unions and strikes. Prior to the fire, in 1909, one of the more notable strikes dubbed the "Uprising of 20,000" was organized primarily by female immigrant garment workers because of the awful conditions, long hours, and low wages they were made to work in due to the lack of options available to them (Pool, 2012). The primary challenge was to get attention paid to the mistreatment of immigrant workers. While there were short term agreements for their demands, the strike ultimately failed, however where it did succeed was exposing poor working conditions and stirring a debate about what counted as public and private (Pool,

Read More

How Did The Triangle Fire Of 1911 Initiated Transformations In America

635 Words | 3 Pages

The Triangle Fire of 1911 initiated transformations in America during the Progressive Era. The one hundred and forty six people who died who were mostly women, did not die in vain, as their deaths led to the reform of laws that would lead to protection from unsafe working environments. Business owners, workers, and union organizers each had their own motivations, and after the fire, their concerns were made public and consequently many of their situations changed. Business owners were stimulated by economic growth and profit, which did not change despite the Triangle fire. Most businesses, and that includes the Triangle Waist Company, carried on with a “business as usual” attitude.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

503 Words | 3 Pages

The people on the fire exit died because they crowded up and the fire spread there. There were also some people who died of inhalation of the smoke produced by fire.     This fire brought up the attention of workers’ safety. The conditions inside were terrible even though there were teenagers inside. The Triangle factory was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

864 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

589 Words | 3 Pages

One of the biggest workplace disasters in the American industrial history was The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in Manhattan, New York. On March 25 of 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory, which manufactured women blouses, erupted in flames, killing 146 people and injuring nearly 71. Most of the people killed and injured by the fire were women and children. This incident caused an outrage among labor workers against hazardous working environments in factories not just in New York but also in many industrial centers all over the states.

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Essay

451 Words | 2 Pages

The front doors of the factory would always be locked because the owners Isaac Harris and Max Blanck thought one of the employees might steal something from the factory. When they tried to go downstairs, the flames of the fire burned them that prevented them to try leave the building. The factory owners were charged for manslaughter after the fire. A few years later they were acquitted and let out of

Read More

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

1609 Words | 7 Pages

The shock of this tragedy, as well as the fact that the factory owners were at fault for the incident, led to some major repercussions and changes. It is sad that it took such a major loss of life to wake the people in power up to the unsafe conditions endured by many industrial workers. The one good thing that came of this disaster was the various changes to safety regulations

Read More

Essay On Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

1576 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

More about How Did The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Of 1911

Related Topics

Open Document