The Triangle Fire
In the Twentieth Century, many things were changing for the United States. With an increasing flow of immigrants, the land was ready to become home to large, technology centered corporations. With so many residents in smaller cities, labor was cheap and these companies could employ many people. However, it was far from perfect for the industrial laborers. They got paid nothing, had to complete hard, dull, rigorous work, and they often were in unsafe working environments. The most famous example of disaster in places like these was the Triangle Shirt Waist Company Fire, a tragedy that changed our nation.

There was a long, unpleasant history between the Triangle Company and their hired labor. The crew, mostly women, were …show more content…
On the afternoon of March 25, 1911, a cigarette was carelessly discarded onto the floor of the factory. The cotton floating in the air immediately lit, and the building started bursting into flames. The owners of the store immediately got out, but none of the laborers on the 9th floor knew about the fire. They finally got a call telling them what had happened, but it was too late. The flames were already starting to creep into the room. There was panic and chaos caused by everyone attempting to escape the blazing Triangle. But everything seemed to go horribly wrong for the trapped workers. The fire escape collapsed while the women were on it, plummeting to the ground and killing them all. The elevator could only bring down a few people at a time; so many women were trapped upstairs while the flame was starting to engulf the workspace. Some of them tried to get out the back door into the stairwell, but the owners of the Triangle had locked the door so that nobody would smuggle out stolen goods. Even the water hose didn’t work, so they couldn’t try to put out the fire. Many women died by falling out of the windows while people outside watched in horror. It was a hellish scene, and the final death toll was a total of 145 mothers, daughters, and