Zinn's 'The Socialist Challenge'

In the chapter 13, “The Socialist Challenge”, Zinn’s underlying point to highlight the horror and mistreatment working class Americans faced prior to the creation of laws that protected them. To show and support these ideas, Zinn showcases various events in history when working Americans were treated as replaceable and unworthy of protection; while also highlighting the poor, dangerous conditions they were expected to work in.
One such way Zinn supports these points is by recounting the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its devastating aftermath. With the NYC fire department only having ladders tall enough to reach up to the fifth floor, workers above were left to suffer in the fire due the horrible environmental conditions that left them unable to escape safely. While laws stated that factory doors were to open outward and those doors must remain unlocked, the factory had done the exact opposite; which in turn led to the deaths of over a hundred factory workers. Zinn draws to light the fact the factory held no regard for the safety of their
Upon seeing their already low-wages had been reduced to even smaller amounts, workers would power down the looms and leave in masses, protesting against the companies that paid them in pennies. Likewise, Zinn recounts the treatment of American workers who dared protest against the injustice and treatment they faced. Strikers were often met with violence, jail time and, in some cases, even death, for marching against their mistreatment. Zinn shines light upon the event that would become known as the Ludlow Massacre for its bloodshed. The events leading up to the massacre are known as the Colorado Coal strike, and Zinn recounts how miners were protesting against low wages, hazardous working conditions, and mining company having complete and utter control over their