triangle fire
Iveliz Taveras
March 12, 2014
Dr. Hamblin
History II
In 1911, a deadliest fire occurred in the triangle waist company killing hundreds of people. The workers at the Triangle Waist Company went on strike in 1909 to bring awareness to people about the company .The Women’s Trade Union League played a big role before and during the strike. The strike made an impact but it wasn’t enough to open the eyes of the owners of the triangle factory. Later a fire arose changing labor and industry forever.
The Triangle waist company consisted of women and children starting from ages 10 and up. Many of these women came from countries such as Italy and Russia in search for the American dream that America promised. Instead they came to a city where they were mistreated and enslaved in the workplace. These women worked for 14 hours straight earning 2 dollars a day to support their families. They spent their days getting blamed for the flaws the company had. As a result of the mistreatment the women started to rebel.
The women trade union league workers wanted shorter hours, better pay, safer shops, and unions. They decided to no longer keep quiet, so they went on strike. These women were the leaders of the largest women strike in American history. More than 50 factories gave in to their workers demand but the triangle factory owner’s Max Blanck and Isaac Harris refused to surrender. The owners tried so hard to stop these women from protesting that they even paid police and prostitutes to beat these women. Blanck and Harris were selfish people who only wanted to make money to defeat competition. They made sure these women were working hard in fear that those small companies will take over. Their terrible treatment brought the women an unexpected supporter, Anne Morgan. Later on she withdrew her support due to the fact that the workers wanted unions, which she did not support.
The strike continued for 11 weeks, making the Triangle owners finally agree to higher wages
March 12, 2014
Dr. Hamblin
History II
In 1911, a deadliest fire occurred in the triangle waist company killing hundreds of people. The workers at the Triangle Waist Company went on strike in 1909 to bring awareness to people about the company .The Women’s Trade Union League played a big role before and during the strike. The strike made an impact but it wasn’t enough to open the eyes of the owners of the triangle factory. Later a fire arose changing labor and industry forever.
The Triangle waist company consisted of women and children starting from ages 10 and up. Many of these women came from countries such as Italy and Russia in search for the American dream that America promised. Instead they came to a city where they were mistreated and enslaved in the workplace. These women worked for 14 hours straight earning 2 dollars a day to support their families. They spent their days getting blamed for the flaws the company had. As a result of the mistreatment the women started to rebel.
The women trade union league workers wanted shorter hours, better pay, safer shops, and unions. They decided to no longer keep quiet, so they went on strike. These women were the leaders of the largest women strike in American history. More than 50 factories gave in to their workers demand but the triangle factory owner’s Max Blanck and Isaac Harris refused to surrender. The owners tried so hard to stop these women from protesting that they even paid police and prostitutes to beat these women. Blanck and Harris were selfish people who only wanted to make money to defeat competition. They made sure these women were working hard in fear that those small companies will take over. Their terrible treatment brought the women an unexpected supporter, Anne Morgan. Later on she withdrew her support due to the fact that the workers wanted unions, which she did not support.
The strike continued for 11 weeks, making the Triangle owners finally agree to higher wages