Does the web site support author Tom Brooks’ assertion that the young women who died in the Triangle Fire were martyrs for the cause of
The Fire That Changed Everything
If you choose this assignment, it satisfies all four requirements to complete this topic. Write a 1000-word essay using the questions provided below.
The fire that destroyed the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in 1911 was a shocking industrial accident that made the general population and legislators alike think about the state of safety in factories across industrial America. The following is an excerpt from the New York Times report of the event:
“Three stories of a ten-floor building at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place were burned yesterday, and while the fire was going on 141 young men and women at least 125 of them mere girls were burned to death or killed by jumping to the pavement below.
“The building was fireproof. It shows now hardly any signs of the disaster that overtook it. The walls are as good as ever so are the floors, nothing is the worse for the fire except the furniture and 141 of the 600 men and girls that were employed in its upper three stories. Most of the victims were suffocated or burned to death within the building, but some who fought their way to the windows and leaped met death as surely, but perhaps more quickly, on the pavements below.
All Over in Half an Hour
“Nothing like it has been seen in New York since the burning of the General Slocum. The fire was practically all over in half an hour. It was confined to three floors the eighth, ninth, and tenth of the building. But it was the most murderous fire that New York had seen in many years. The victims who are now lying at the Morgue waiting for someone to identify them by a tooth or the remains of a burned shoe were mostly girls from 16 to 23 years of age. They were employed at making shirtwaists by the Triangle Waist Company, the principal owners of which are Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. Most of them could barely speak English. Many of them came from Brooklyn. Almost all were the main support of their hard-working families. There is just one fire escape in the building…”
-New York Times, March 26, 1911, page. 1.
Read The Terrible Triangle Fire and examine other resources on The Triangle Factory Fire. Analyze the newspaper accounts, documents, photographs, and political cartoons of the fire. Then find an account on web of a more recent industrial catastrophe.
Write a 1000-word essay using the following questions to frame your essay. Be sure to include the web site address for the source you chose to use for the modern example in your essay.
Does the web site support author Tom Brooks’ assertion that the young women who died in the Triangle Fire were martyrs for the cause of worker safety?
How did the fire act as a catalyst for reform at that time?
Were there any reforms resulting from the second industrial incident you found?
What were the similarities and/or differences between the two events?
How were these incidents reported to the public?
What are the lasting legacies from these incidents?
Answer preview for Does the web site support author Tom Brooks’ assertion that the young women who died in the Triangle Fire were martyrs for the cause of
MLA
926 Words