Immoral owners ignored basic worker’s rights. Exceptionally hazardous working conditions, ridiculous long hours, and low wages were the lives of the workers at the Triangle Waist Company. Most workers were women immigrants seeking a better life in the United States. Speaking out would end with the loss of their needed jobs, forcing them to suffer personal indignities and severe mistreatment. Because of the poor working conditions the Women’s Trade Union League helped the younger women workers go on strike. This incident sparked a spontaneous walkout of its 400 employees. An agreement was made that established grievance system in the garment industry after the cloak maker’s strike of 1910.…
The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire was, in my opinion, one of the most tragic events in history. The workers in the factory were not treated with respect or fairness. The workers were forced to work tremendously long hours and received little pay. Perhaps one of the biggest shocks to me was the fact that the workers had to pay for the thread, the power that their machine used, and buy a garments if the shirtwaist was not made correctly. Obviously, money ruled the hearts of the owners. This reminds me of 1 Timothy 6:10, where the author states, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (ESV). Pride and greed, in my opinion,…
… the Great Disruption was filtered through national contexts. In the United States, the fears and anxieties engendered by industrial transformation turned workers into metaphorical gypsies, encamped on an emptied industrial landscape. Plant closing opponents in the United States proved unable to save factories from closing or to stop the displacement. (p. 11)…
Well the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. This factory was located in Manhattan, New York. It was a sweatshop that employed young and old immigrant women who needed money to provide for their families and to quote from the video they needed an “economic security”. This sweat shop worked women in cramped places on sewing machines for fourteen hours a day only making two dollars. Now most of these immigrants were teens and the youngest one being fourteen. This factory was well known for the “shirtwaist” clothing. The owners were strict and not very trusting so not only did they check every employees bag on the way out, but out of the two main exits one always remained locked. On October 4th 1909 many workers…
The title of the documentary I watched is “Triangle Fire” it was made February 28, 2011 about the massive Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 that killed 146 people. The thesis of this film is mainly taking a look into the working lives of immigrants in the early 1900’s. The filmmaker’s agenda was apparent in this film and it was to expose the working conditions, and lives of these workers at the time to ensure the viewer would know the corruption that was at hand with the private industry of American factories. This film wanted to convey the message that the working conditions in factories in these times were unacceptable and they led to the biggest work related tragedy in that city to date. This film is accurate because it covers all the historical evidence that’s needed to show its viewers what the working condition were that…
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King, April 16, 1963) this quote was said by Martin Luther King Jr. Injustice is a synonym of the word unfairness; meaning, that injustice is when people are not being fair. In the cases of To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scottsboro Boys and The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Injustice was a part of the verdict. In To kill a Mockingbird Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. In the Scottsboro boys case the nine boys that were found on the train were accused by the two women that they raped the two women. In the shirtwaist fire the women were suing the owners of the building because they locked the women in and there were no exits. The women pleaded and the jury still found the owners not guilty. In the trials the Scottsboro boys, Tom Robinson and The shirt waist fire women were falsely accused of what they did. Each defendant/prosecution was accused for something they didn’t do. (Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird) (Scottsboro Boys, Documentary)…
As the author of both documents, Fire and Investigation and Trial suggested, there was a need for change in the garment industry to protect the safety and health of women and children, but the strikes alone were not enough. It was not until after the Triangle Fire and outbreaks from the public that caused a change the legislation to consider a change to public policies. With the Triangle Factory Fire being one of the pivotal point during the Progressive Era, more and more social reforms will continue to appear as the public will be more educated in their rights as an American…
Late on the evening of October 8th, 1871, at 137 DeKoven Street, Catherine O’Leary saw bursts of flames located in the family cow barn. Within about an hour from the initial bursts, blocks of poorly built shacks and houses were destroyed by the fire carried by wind. Following, within two-day time, the fire had destroyed businesses, factories, houses, homes and land. The fire continued blazing, completely obliterating over 70,000 buildings and approximately 73 miles of Chicago’s streets, killing over 300 people.2 The fire finally was extinguished on October 10th, when it rained.…
Hayley Estrada HIST 18 - 39395 – Summer 2024 Professor John Bradshaw 06/12/2024 Précis – Module One (1) The United States experienced a period of unorganized labor revolts in response to industrialization in the 19th century. In 1877, the Great Railroad Strike led workers to shutdown railroads.1 Wealthy business leaders reacted quickly to military repression. This led to new strike uprisings in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago, disillusioned workers with their need for institutionalization, and convinced the government to implement a firmer political presence.2 Labor unrest grew due to harsh working conditions, low pay, and unrealistic labor hours.…
In 1912, laws were passed in regard to many of the immediate problems, including fire drills and alarms, automatic sprinklers, maternity leave, and fire prevention. In 1913, laws were passed involving fire escapes, exits, elevators, child labor, cleanliness, ventilation, and the size of rooms. While these were deeper rooted problems, the quick turnaround of legislation in just two years is truly remarkable. These laws marked a new age of labor legislation in New York, placing New York in the lead in the country for protecting wage earners over helping owners. The work and importance of the Commission may be measured by the amount of laws it gave rise to, but it should be most remembered by the change it caused in the public’s eye; to no longer accept these horrendous conditions, simply to benefit the…
James Green’s “Death in the Haymarket” explores a significant moment in history that is unbeknown to many people. Spanning over a course of twenty years Green gives extensive detail of the infamous bombing in the Haymarket. Beginning with post-civil war era readers follow the labor movement through Chicago. Overtime the size of Chicago quadruples, it experiences two depressions, a monumental fire, and an abundance of immigrants. Shifting into the industrial age, there was an increase in capital and a change in labor. Industrialist quest to defeat the formation of labor unions began setting off a chain of events. An initially peaceful mass meeting led by anarchist to demand better labor rights end in a blood bath. Speeches during the protest included some violent language which alleged caused over one-hundred-seventy officers to emerge in hopes of dismantling the small crowd. A bomb launched into the crowd of officers sparked…
Many of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory workers were young women, as young as age 10, worked seven days a week from 7a.m to 8p.m. with only a half-hour lunch break. Even during their busy season, the women worked non-stop and were only paid $2.00 a day at most. At times, they were required to bring their…
In 1889 the number of workers killed on the job was 22,000. These people were dieing on the job because of their shifts for their jobs could last up to 12 hours. Also the people working these 12 hour shifts every day were only 16 years old.…
It’s the evening of May 4th, 1886 in Chicago, Illinois. A bomb is thrown by an unknown figure in the protesting crowd at the forceful police trying to calm the mass, killing seven members of the armed forces. To this day it is unknown who threw the bomb and why they did it but this event was one that defined a period of rapid industrialization and great corruption in the United States. The conditions that defined this era in the history of still young country, where the graves still lay fresh from civil war and with the seams that were broken barley mended back together, would become the clamor of the nineteenth century. This riot was not just a random outbreak during a labor demonstration but rather a boiling over of a culmination of many factors that were building up in the late 19th century.…
On March 25, 1911, a fire occurred in a building. The building was located in New York City and belonged to the Triangle shirtwaist company. With the lack of safety and escape options it resulted in the deaths of around 145 workers, many were young women. This tragedy leads progressive reformers to create public awareness of terrible working conditions, with this infamous event it…