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What Is The Significance Of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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Introduction The fire that erupted at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City is remembered as one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The infamous incident claimed 146 lives of young immigrant workers due to negligent safety precautions. To this day this incident has continued to have great significance because it highlights the inhumane working conditions that industrial workers have to be subjected to. Sweatshops before 1911 The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was like any other factory during this time in Manhattan; it consisted of low wages, long hours, unsanitary and dangerous working conditions. Many owners of factories would subcontract much of the work to those who would hire the hands and …show more content…

There were about 500 workers working at this time when a fire began in a rag bin. Out of the 500 workers 146 of them had lost their lives. Those that survived were left to relive those agonizing moments of sheer terror and fear. Many of the workers were women, some as young as fourteen. They were for the most part recent Italian and European Jewish immigrants. Most had come with their families to create a better life for themselves but instead they faced poverty and horrific working conditions. Some turned to labor unions to speak for them, as many didn’t know how to speak English. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a non-union factory, although some of their worker joined the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ …show more content…

Yet there was still the responsibility of finding who locked the doors, which led to the District Attorney’s office to seek an indictment against the owners. A grand jury indicted Blanck and Harris on seven counts, charging them with manslaughter in the second degree, under section 80 of the Labor Code, which mandated that all doors must be unlocked during business hours. Twenty-three days after the trial had started, a jury acquitted Blanck and Harris of any wrong doing. The jurors had the task to determine whether the owners had known whether not the doors were locked. Twenty-three civil suits were brought against the owners of the Asch building. Three years after the fire Blanck and Harris settled, they paid 75 dollars for every life

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There was an abundance of workers, and the items they were producing were being found in homes across the country. Industry was making a lot of money, but due to the number of able workers, these same companies believed that they did not need to treat them well. The workers were putting in ten to twelve hours a day, five and a half, or six days a week (p. 9). The working conditions

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Sign Although the evidence pulled by the the distraught citizens is strong, owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris along with their lawyer Max Steuer have the right to defend themselves and give their side of the case. They claim that they locked the doors in order to keep the workers from stealing as said back in the History.com article when it states “There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward.” This quote plainly shows how the doors stopped the workers from exiting. Going along with that, some workers of the factory even said that the doors were actually unlocked and that there was no way to prove that the doors were locked.

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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.

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Constructed in 1901, the then called Asch Building, was an ideal spot for running a company (Timeline). Two men by the names of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris purchased the building. The two men were notorious for being anti-union supporters who refused to comply with any union worker's demands (Drehle 62). Harris and Blanck managed to keep from getting into trouble by the hands of restless union workers and rented out the ten floors to numerous businesses. The top three floors would become the working place for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company employees.

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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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Fire drill, fire escapes, sprinkler systems, and forty-eight hour work weeks may seem so common, but if it wasn’t for the fires that broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in the early 1900’s, there might not be fire and labor laws like there are today. The triangle shirtwaist factor was a clothes making facilities in downtown Manhattan.

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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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As claimed by Pauline Newman’s interview, Working for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, she states, “We started work at 7:30 and during the busy season, we worked until nine o’clock in the evening, even during the holidays our hours didn’t change.” This shows that the workers hardly had time to spend with there families, they would just earn money and send it home for there families. Since the workers had to be at work at 7:30 they often fell asleep while working, which explains why there was so many injuries from the

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The Triangle Shirtwaist incident occurred on March 25, 1911, it’s important because it is remembered as the infamous American Industrial fire and also showed the Progressive Labor issues that the United States workers were facing. I have used an article “Life in the Shop”The Cornell University Triangle Shirtwaist Factory website from Cornell University(Written November

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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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Up until the early 20th century, American labor laws did not protect employees and work environments were not monitored for unsafe conditions. Factories were allowed to run without proper fire exits, ventilation, pay, breaks and even children were forced into labor. These unsafe conditions came crashing down just before the end of the workday on March 25th, 1911 in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. In just under 30 minutes, 146 lives perished (Benin). Today, we call these factories “sweatshops” and they are primarily found in countries that lack laws enforcing proper working conditions.

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The factory was a true sweatshop that hired young women who were immigrants that worked in a cramped space at lines of sewing machines. Almost all of the girls who worked there were in their teens and did not speak any English. They worked 12 hours a day, every day. In 1911, the factory only had

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The infamous men did not follow the few safety regulations that were in place at that time. Considered the “worst shop,” these avaricious owners cared nothing for their workers safety and only for making profit. The despicable owners thought of the workers as replaceable machines, and if broken, could be easily replaced (Document 18 and Document 23). Many people claim that the turning point in American history was on March 25, 1911 when a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the The Shirtwaist Factory. Due to the nature and position of the fire on the eighth floor, the workers had little to no chance of escape.

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In 1911, one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history occurred when the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burned, killing 145 workers. It is one of the most remembered incidents since the deaths were largely preventable. Most victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building. While the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire did result in a new legislation for safety in the work place, it was not the most important result. The most important result was the institution of the process to enforce pre-existing legislation regarding worker safety and protection in the workplace along with the laws that followed.

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Blanck and Harris would have to pay $75 per victim. However, they got $60,000 for insurance. This meaning they earned $411 per victim. Later on in 1913 Blank would be fined $20 for locking doors in another factory.

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