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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Essay

1609 Words7 Pages

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was a deadly blaze that ended the lives of 146 garment workers in New York City in the year 1911. Many of those who perished were Jewish and Italian immigrant women, trying to make a living working at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Many died in a very violent fashion. As described by one observer, “Jumping from ten stories up! They are going through the air like bundles of clothes and the firemen can’t stop them and the policeman can’t stop them and nobody can help at all” (Klein, 2001, pg. 498). 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 …show more content…

The factory was tried in court for the disregard to their employees’ safety. The owners of the Triangle Waist Company, Issac Harris and Max Blanck were placed on trial for manslaughter in the first and second degree. The jury had been out for an hour and twenty minutes before concluding the verdict of not guilty (“Triangle Owners Acquitted by Jury”, 1911). Although they were not convicted of this crime they did have a cost to pay for the fatal fire that had killed many of their workers. The still faced another six indictments against them. A judge ordered the factory to pay seventy-five dollars to all twenty-three families that had sued for their loved ones lives and/or injuries (Klein, 2001, pg. 498). The Triangle Waist Company couldn’t be persecuted for this tragedy because there weren’t any laws enforcing safety requirements. Society required a fatal tragedy to occur in order for them to open their eyes to a dire problem in regulations on behalf of

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