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Research Paper On The Triangle Fire Tragedy

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The Triangle Fire Tragedy

The fire in the Triangle Waist Company was the “deadliest workplace tragedy in the history of New York City” (Argersinger, p.16). Immigrant young women, some of whom did not speak English, were employees in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to support their families despite the poor wages and the dangerous work conditions. In this period, progressive movements were occurring in order to reduce the impacts of the difficult conditions brought by industrialization, balance the wealth between the rich and poor, and make the workplace more efficient. After watching how several garment workers, mostly women, reach their deaths, America was never the same in many ways, affecting the development of the Progressive Era and …show more content…

Initially, the company was an “inside shop” where all the steps of production were made in one room. The shirtwaists were commonly worn by women of all classes, in fact the demand for the blouses increased. Consequently, later, the factory expanded and moved to the top three floors of the Ash Building, which was fireproof according to its owner Joseph Ash; to enhance production the building was equipped with modern technology, organization, and construction. The sewing machines were systematized in order to maximize production and minimize conversation among workers, letting the company fabricate more than thousands blouses a day. In 1903, the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was organized with the objective of eliminating sweatshop conditions, referred to improper working conditions, and establishing trade unions, which means employees united to achieve a common goal. Although the Triangle Shirtwaist Company was an objective of the WTUL, it still generated risks for workers. For example, the company had no working warning system in case of accidents, improperly maintained work equipment, and lack of workplace inspections. Furthermore, the pressurized pace of work facilitated accidents mostly to inexpert …show more content…

For instance, in order to reduce economic risks, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris opted to hire bosses whom they paid according to the shirtwaist’s production. Simultaneously, the bosses hired workers, mainly immigrant young women, to actually produce the shirtwaists, supervised their work, and paid them from the amount they received from the owners. Since, the bosses decided the wages of employees for their own profit, they minimize labor costs. The shirtwaist’ prices varied from $2 to hundreds of dollars, according to the fabric and design, nonetheless some women could not afford them despite they worked hard to fabricate them.
It was March the 25th in 1911when 146 workers died in the Asch Building where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was established. As soon as the closing bell rang, workers were gathering their personal possessions to go home; afterward, the fire began on the eighth floor. Because people on the ninth floor knew nothing about the fire, they did not have so many opportunities to escape, thus they started to jump from great heights. The tragedy horrified extremely the whole country and changed the history of America

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First, a lot of workers lost their lives. According to the book Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix, 146 people had died in the fire. Foreign girls worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. According to source 1, it says Italian, Russian, Hungarian, and German girls worked and died.

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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.

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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,

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Because they were poor immigrants who barely knew English, factory owners could easily take advantage of them. They use this to explain why America was so motivated by the fire, which helped push for industrial reforms. Other scholars focus on the horrible working conditions in the factory and the sensationalized newspaper stories and images to explain how this caused Americans to blame the factory owners for their poor treatment of workers. Americans’ outrage and blame of the owners helped increase support for reform. They agree that the Triangle fire added fuel to the Progressive movement and served as one of many pieces of evidence that helped in reforming labor laws.

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Kylie Kenneavy April 7, 2024 U.S. History Since 1877. The Triangle Fire trial was a famous trial that took place in December of 1911 after a detrimental fire broke out in March of the same year. This fire took place at a shirtwaist factory in Manhattan, New York City. 146 workers’ lives were taken during the fire from smoke inhalation while trapped inside with limited ways out, and other fatalities occurred from employees jumping out of windows nine to ten floors high.

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The aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire was that 146 people had been burned and killed by the fire. Also this tragedy brought a lot of attention to the conditions of the other factories, which led to the development of new laws to help regulate and protect the people working in these factories. This fire was an important factor in the progressive movement because this, “strike ended in a pioneering settlement… proving conditions and resolving grievances,”

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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.

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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.

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The Fire That Changed America is a historical monograph discusses the rise of labor reforms along with the Progressive Movement throughout the state of New York during the early 1900’s, and pushes forward the argument that the fire which decimated the Triangle Waist Company was vital to the entrance of laws advocated by unions that protect the safety of workers. Drehle himself is a journalist, a former editor of Time Magazine, and a frequent visitor of American History in most of his works. The fire at Triangle was a devastating tragedy, but its sheer scale caused incredibly welcoming effects on the common workplace. Before the fire, labor unions that belonged to the progressive movement were only able to secure “a pay raise, [and] a fifty-two hour work week” for a pitifully limited number of workers, as the

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The Shirtwaist Fire had an impact on Immigration, Workplace conditions, the Factors of Production and The Women’s Rights Suffrage. The fire that changed America was the deadliest Industrial Disaster in History. At the beginning of the twentieth century, factory owners treated their workers with little consideration. They paid very few, Wanted long hours without breaks, and took small care for the safety of their employees. a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, a clothing company located in the top floors of a New York Building.

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was a devastating fire that killed 146 girls in New York City (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). At this time, citizens of New York were furious and demanded that the government do something to prevent future tragedies. The government responded and the reforms that the government made, it changed the future of New York industry. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, one of history’s deadliest fires, came as a result of outrageously unsafe working conditions, led to a high death toll and injury total, but, ultimately resulted in reforms that helped safeguard future factory workers.

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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.

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the history of New York City. A fire broke out in this sweatshop that employed mostly young immigrant women who worked long hours in dangerous and cramped conditions. The fire quickly spread through the building, trapping workers on the upper floors, and the tragic event claimed the lives of 146 workers, on March 25th, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire became a turning point in American labor history, leading to the establishment of important workplace safety regulations and sparking a movement for workers' rights. Corruption and greed doused the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, setting America in flames, impossible to put out.

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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

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One of the first characterized movements of the Progressive Era occurred after a fire erupted in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company on March 25th, 1911. A fire that enclosed the top three floors of the Shirtwaist Company killed more than 100 employees, after recognizing that sweatshops did not have proper laws or regulations that would ensure the safety of their workers. This tragic event led to the installment of smoke alarms, the importance of signage, and the need to have working fire trucks, all steps towards the Progressive Era. During this era, the economy was growing, industrial production increased, and the population boomed. This ultimately leads to the expansion of the consumer market, in which a new generation of employees emerged, specifically journalists.

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