Triangle Essay
Native and Immigrant Women in the Workplace
During the late 18th and early 19th century, numerous male immigrants flooded into the United States, primarily coming from eastern and southern Europe. Not long after, the majority of women soon followed the men in taking a new journey to the United States. Upon their arrival, a major era was beginning to evolve which was the women suffrage movement. This period allowed women to come together, form a union, and let their voices be heard on the limitations and working conditions the government and society have allowed to occur. With little education and desperate for money, women immigrants were looking for any job they could find. However, there was one occurring problem through the 19th and 20th century: the working conditions. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, founded by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was one of many industries the workers had harsh feelings toward due to this issue. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out within the company building causing it to be one of the most symbolic incidents regarding the improvements in the industrial world. Although the immigrants believed leaving their homeland for an entire different country would ease the stress of personal issues, in turn, it outraged the women and gave them a boost of confidence to stand up for the safety of themselves and put up a fight for greater freedom. To begin with, the lives of women workers were not as bad as African American lives during the slavery period, but they still endured severe conditions. In The Triangle Fire (Argersinger, 2009), the author mentions how the head executive of the company would circle around the workspace speaking to the women with no respect. After every workday ended, the younger girls and women went through strict security procedures to make sure nothing would come up missing the next day (Argersinger, 2009). After working in the factory day in and day out, the women slowly started to hate the work
During the late 18th and early 19th century, numerous male immigrants flooded into the United States, primarily coming from eastern and southern Europe. Not long after, the majority of women soon followed the men in taking a new journey to the United States. Upon their arrival, a major era was beginning to evolve which was the women suffrage movement. This period allowed women to come together, form a union, and let their voices be heard on the limitations and working conditions the government and society have allowed to occur. With little education and desperate for money, women immigrants were looking for any job they could find. However, there was one occurring problem through the 19th and 20th century: the working conditions. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, founded by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was one of many industries the workers had harsh feelings toward due to this issue. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out within the company building causing it to be one of the most symbolic incidents regarding the improvements in the industrial world. Although the immigrants believed leaving their homeland for an entire different country would ease the stress of personal issues, in turn, it outraged the women and gave them a boost of confidence to stand up for the safety of themselves and put up a fight for greater freedom. To begin with, the lives of women workers were not as bad as African American lives during the slavery period, but they still endured severe conditions. In The Triangle Fire (Argersinger, 2009), the author mentions how the head executive of the company would circle around the workspace speaking to the women with no respect. After every workday ended, the younger girls and women went through strict security procedures to make sure nothing would come up missing the next day (Argersinger, 2009). After working in the factory day in and day out, the women slowly started to hate the work