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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Analysis

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“The sidewalk was covered with heaps of broken bodies, 63 in all... They discovered 19 bodies melted against the locked door and 25 broken and burned bodies were pulled from atop the elevator.” (Pence et al. 410). This horrific description is not from a work of fiction, but instead from the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City on March 25, 1911. The factory employed hundreds of workers, mostly young, immigrant girls. On this fateful Saturday afternoon, a vicious fire unexpectedly broke out at the factory, sending panic through its towering floors (Pence et al. 408). A total of 146 workers died in the tragedy, shocking the public and shaping the future of labor laws (Burt 190). "And all Who Jumped Died: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire" by Patricia Pence et al. summarizes the fire, reviews the response of the factory owners, examines the laws that resulted from the fire, and offers three lessons to be learned from the incident (Pence et al 407). "Working Women and the Triangle Fire: Press …show more content…

Both "Working Women and the Triangle Fire" and "And All Who Jumped Died" discuss the same event, have structural similarities, effectively fulfill their purposes, and are useful tools for history students. However, their purposes differ significantly and “And All Who Jumped Died” more effectively develops its argument through its use of descriptive language and organizational techniques. “And All Who Jumped Died” begins by outlining its purpose, emphasizing the significance of the fire, defining a shirtwaist, and describing the events leading up to the fire (Pence et al. 407). The article

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The book Uprising is about three young girls in 1910,1911 New York City. An Italian immigrant, Bella. A Russian immigrant, Yetta. And a rich American, Jane. All three girls experience the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1911.

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The article "The Factory Girl 's Danger", Written by Miriam Finn Scott, discusses the danger of working in a progressive era factory in a skyscraper typical in the New York area. Referenced in her paper is the tragedy known as The Triangle Factory Fire in which 146 workers, mostly young girls, "were charred bodies heaped up behind doors they had vainly tried to beat down, or were unrecognizable pulp upon the street far below"(10,Scott). Miriam also goes further into detail pertaining to the lives of 2 sisters one of whom was killed in the fire. Her article on the triangle factory fire brought the public 's attention to the atrocious conditions these women worked in, Furthermore, it shined a personal light on what otherwise would just been

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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.

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This major development was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that caused 148 workers in the fire die. This foul “accident” as the owners of the shirtwaist factory, Issac Harris and Max Blanck, would call it but this act was no accident due to the terrible working condition these people had to go through. Metaphorically and literally Harris and Blanck locked the door and threw away the key of the lives of these innocent sweatshop workers when they locked the door that morning for “better

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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 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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“In August alone the building took three lives. Elsewhere on the grounds four other men died and dozens more suffered all manner of fractures, burns, and lacerations. The fair, according to one later appraisal, was a more dangerous place to work than a coal mine” (Larson 178). Larson’s comparison of a coal mine to the fair serves to show how hazardous the fair was to work in. Larson explains the danger of the fair by listing the various injuries that ailed the miners, such as “fractures, burns, and Lacerations.”

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As a result of this, there were a disturbing amount of casualties. Newark and even the rest of the country opened their eyes after this horrific incident resulting the country forced to reinforce their safety regulations in the workplace making Newark city a prime example of change in labor conditions. Because of this factory fire, Newark improved their city with these new regulations and the city as a whole has become much safer to work in. The way an outsider, Hopkins, born and raised in Bangor, discusses the way labor was affecting the workers lives is unique because Hopkins learned of all this tragedy from others who have experienced it and not herself. We can see various ways labor identity is being formed by the people who are affected by the poor safety

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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.

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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.

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