Essay On Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

The industrialization of the United States brought great benefits and improved the way we live in many ways. Those benefits, however, also came with many issues for the working class. One of the biggest issues that came with the industrial revolution was unsafe working conditions. The triangle shirtwaist factory fire, one of the most infamous events in the history of the United States, was a result of the lack of safety regulations. Many victims of the disaster died tragic deaths, and it is truly a moment we must learn from. Although the triangle shirtwaist factory fire was a tragic incident that could have been prevented, it had a great impact on improving the safety of workers.
The incident occured over 100 years ago, on March 25, 1911. The factory was located in New

York City. The factory employed young immigrant women, many who were were teenaged girls who did not speak English. They had harsh working conditions, working in cramped spaces at lines of sewing machines. They all worked 12 hours a day, every day. The factory also had many safety issues. There were four elevators that had access to the factory floors, however, only one was fully operational. In order to reach the elevator, the workers had to file down a long, narrow corridor. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward. The fire escape was so narrow that it would have taken hours for all the workers to use it. Many knew of the possible danger of fires in the factory. It is believed that the reason it was not addressed was because “high levels of corruption in both the garment industry and city government generally ensured that no useful precautions were taken to prevent fires.”
On March 25, the disaster would start with a fire in a rag bin. The workers were unsuccessful in extinguishing the fire and it rapidly spread, causing panic to spread as well. Due to the insufficient conditions of the buildings, many people were not able to escape fast enough. Some were so desperate to escape that they even jumped out the windows. Since the factory was located on the top three floors of the building, this inevitably led to all of their deaths. Fire fighters arrived at the scene, however, they were limited in the help they could provide. The bodies of the people who had jumped from the building had landed on the hoses. This made it difficult to even start fighting the fire. The ladders that they had available to them were not able to reach the upper levels of the buildings. The workers were trapped in the factory, and many were burned alive or died due to the smoke. The fire lasted about 18 minutes, and by the end of it, a total of 146 people were killed.
The company’s owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, were charged with first and second degree manslaughter. The trial, however, did not have the expected outcome despite the evidence that the fire and deaths were caused by negligence of the owners. The defendants were able to discredit one of the survivors, Kate Alterman. In the end, the two men were only found liable of wrongful death. The incident had caught a lot of attention in the media and the news, and lead to a demand for better working conditions. Even in recent times, unionists have “invoked memory of the victims as a rallying cry in the struggles for social and economic justice”With the great support for their cause, activists and unions were able to make their efforts to make a change much more effective than before.
The triangle shirtwaist factory fire was far from the only case of inadequate working conditions. Many laborers were unhappy with the lack of care that went into their workplace. A striker was quoted in saying “unsanitary—that’s the word that is generally used, but there ought to be a worse one used.” Although there was a great need for reforms in the workplace, big business owners made it hard for the government to pass laws that would help regulate working conditions. Business owners were not concerned with the well-being of their workers. Sweatshops like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory “rested on the backs of abused workers, including young children”
Activists and labor unions worked to push these reforms, and their efforts played a crucial role in passing laws that improved working conditions.

One of the unions that were on forefront was the International Ladies Garment Workers Union(ILGWU). They had lost many members to the fire, and made great contributions in gaining reforms. It was not always easy, to organize the workers. New York were known to be “dedicated strikers but indifferent unionists, keen on action but hard to organize.” Anne Morgan and Alva Belmont were activists that helped gain support and organize unionists and activists. They hosted a meeting at the Metropolitan Opera House to demand action on fire safety. After three months of being pressured by activists and unions, New York’s governor signed a law creating the Factory Investigating Commission. The commission investigated around 2,000 factories in dozens of industries. Workers’ rights advocates such as Frances Perkins also helped them enact eight laws covering fire safety, factory inspections, sanitation, and employment rules for women and children. The following year, they pushed for 25 more laws. Other U.S. states later followed New York’s

legislation.
The fire was a moment that changed the United States forever. The lack of regulations and the business owner’s willingness to compromise the safety of their workers was ultimately what led to this tragedy. The events that followed the incident, however, resulted in great reforms that help workers throughout the United States today. Without the laws and regulations that protect the safety of workers, the conditions we have to deal with would be a lot worse. It is a shame that the deaths of the workers in the factory were not able to be prevented, but it motivated many people to take action and it eventually led to changing the United States for the better.