Triangle: The Fire That Changed America Disasters can be so impactful; some can forever change the course of history. While many at the time thought this story would soon pass, and with it all the potential bad publicity, the story of the Triangle fire spread quickly, and outraged many people. On a beautiful spring day in March 1911 when 146 workers lost their lives, a fire would prove it could do what years of reformers had failed to do, get the government on the side of the workers. I would argue that the fire largely impacted the country. Specifically, the Triangle Fire ended up changing New York’s interconnected political and economic scene, and spurred on the creation of stricter safety codes. For the first time owners would hold responsibility for their actions. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris; being indicted for manslaughter was proof of this. Social change seemed to be spurred as well; the general public and newspapers would come back the workers of New York. Large institutions would suffer as well. Tammany Hall would be feared less and less by waves of new immigrants. The largest change brought about by the blaze would be legislation. Twenty-five bills, recasting the labor laws of the state The political scene of New York was altered greatly as a result of the Triangle Fire. Still dominated by the machine-boss system, New York was prime example of graft and corruption of politicians. Tammany Hall still reigned supreme, even after the fall of Boss Tweed in the 1870s, and a man named Charles Murphy headed it. In 1909, when workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory went on strike, owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris used the police and gangsters to get the strikers to give up their cause. The suppliers of these corrupt office... ... middle of paper ... ...arose in New York soon existed throughout the country. Von Drehle makes it very clear in his book that the Triangle fire did in fact, as the subtitle suggests, change America. He gives clear examples of how the Triangle fire led Tammany Hall to almost completely shift its agenda, and how it also led to a plethora of new safety codes. His argument is made especially compelling by how he gives a detailed background of many key people involved and also how he describes in detail how things were before and after the fire. This gives the reader a fuller understanding of the time period around the fire, and therefore shows how much the fire actually changed things. After reading his book, it is abundantly clear that the Triangle fire was a main cause of political change and safety reform in America. Although terrible, it led to many positive changes in American politics.
Individuals like Boss Tweed seized and controlled entire cities. William M. Tweed was a politician who controlled New York City's political network through illegal subsidization for political support and affiliation with city gangs. From his headquarters at Tammany Hall and his position in the United States House of Representatives, he was able to orchestrate elections, cultivate support, and establish the New York County Courthouse, funded by the profits of the Tweed Ring (“William Magear Tweed”) . His accomplishments were made possible by the chaotic shambling of desperate people who had no choice but to submit to his demands, in hopes of alleviating themselves from their dire circumstances. Tweed was only one of many corrupt political figures who used their power and influence to accumulate wealth, and vice versa. By the mid 20th century, the scale and prominence of corruption had increased dramatically, due to the widespread transition to vast urban cities and industrialized systems. The greed and desperation that resulted from the shift towards industrialism accelerated the growth of corruption in
Roosevelt led the reform committee that brought Tammany to its knees – by the 1960s, the once glorious machine had been destroyed. The urban political machine was a force that provided stability and growth for the “out-of-control” urban population. Cities grew at uncontrollable rates and organizations like Tammany Hall instituted public improvements and created millions of jobs because of the torrential flow of immigrants into Ellis Island. It can even be argued that Tammany and other political machines made the transition easier for these immigrants, without whom the cities would not have been able to prosper to the extent that they did. The political machine created a type of politics that was purely practical in nature, and although it allowed for an immoral amount of corruption, the contributions it made to growth, stability, and production cannot be understated.
With this power came leniency for the men and Tweed began to use this power to gain personal wealth. Tweed accomplished this when he made business for the city. For example, “Tweed allowed the contractors to overcharge the city for their work as long as the suppliers ‘kicked back’ a portion of their illicit profits to him” (Anbinder, 2010), as well as Hall, Sweeny, and Connolly. Tweed and these men were nicknamed the Tweed ring, known for their illicit acts against the city (Hirsch, 1945, p.
...ome of the tragedy, sweeping changes in school fire safety regulations were enacted nationwide, no doubt saving countless lives in subsequent years. But for the innocent victims of the Our Lady of the Angels, it was too late.”
As darkness fell over the city of Pittsburgh on July 21, 1877, an enormous failing. The Pennsylvania Railroad's PRR massive railroad yards were engulfed by a sea of fire. "Strong men halted with fear," one witness later recalled, "while others ran to and fro trampling upon the killed and wounded." The conflagration that raged that hot summer night was the result of a long-simmering crisis in the lives of American working men and women.The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was the angry response of railroad workers to wage reductions, job cuts, and the profiteering by the huge railroad corporations that had risen to dominance after the Civil War. Millions of Americans had become wage workers when businesses boomed, but a bank panic partly sparked by the instability caused by railroads' rate wars in 1873 sent the nation into an
The Chicago fire was a bad time and a good time in Chicago’s past. It destroyed a whole city, but in a way it rebuilt it as well. It led to many good things, it showed that even though you may not like the people you live by or with, when they need help, you should help them no matter what. It also led to industrialization, which helped Chicago become the metropolis it is today. Even though nobody knows who started the Great Chicago fire, whether it was old peg leg Sullivan, two random old men fighting in the barn, a comet falling from the night sky, or Mrs. O’Leary starting it herself for attention, it is still one of the worst, if not the worst disasters in Chicago’s great history. Chicagoans will always remember October 8, 1871, because it is a day that changed Chicago forever.
"Boss" Tweed of Tammany Hall ran New York in the 1860s and early 1870s and some of his feats of swindling helps explain how the machine system works. It mostly centers around the, then new, county courthouse. The building of the courthouse was initially estimated to cost $250,000, but ended up costing well over $13,000,000. Inclu...
recuperate. But as the population grew, such large fires were seen as a danger to society and
In the aftermath, officials learned that the building had been given a “good” fire rating the week before the blaze. The fire itself led to changes in fire law. States like Massachusetts now require buildings to have clearly marked exits and outward swinging doors, and forbid revolving doors as the main entrance of a building without nearby doors. Likewise, highly flammable decorations like the ones used by Welansky are now
Following the years of Congressional Reconstruction during the Johnson administration, former Union General Ulysses S. Grant was elected president, despite his lack of political experience. Although Grant was an excellent soldier, he proved to be an insufficient politician, failing to respond effectively to rampant corruption throughout his two terms in office. Both government and businesses were plagued by corrupt schemes, as Republican leaders used the spoils system to gain political favors and “robber barons,” such as Jay Gould and James Fisk, stole large sums of money at the public’s expense. New York Mayor William “Boss” Tweed, leader of the “Tammany Hall” political machine, took advantage of the influx of immigrants to the United States by manipulating newly arrived immigrants, promising employment, housing, and other favors in return for their electoral support. This blatant corruption severely damaged the opinions of many Americans regarding their government, and prompted the election of numerous reform-minded politicians. Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield both attempted to restore honest government following the tainted Grant administration, yet political divisions between the “Halfbreed” and “Stalwart” factions of the Republican Party prev...
It starts small. It grows large. It dies out. It rekindles. It grows large. It dies out. It rekindles. It grows small. It dies out. It is over. The phases of fire depend on who is caring for it. Is someone looking over it? Is someone adding logs or leaves when it is dying out? Is it rekindled with a match? Fire is in the hands of the beholder. One can control how he or she handles fire. Fire can do a number of things. It can demolish everything known to man. It can give warmth. It can give light. It can purify. In a society in which fire is an essential to man, the interpretations of it may vary. Fire can be seen as a destruction method that benefits society and generally makes people happier. Fire can be seen as a destruction method that ruins society and takes away people’s knowledge and happiness. Fire can be seen as a method of renewal and purification of the past. The main protagonist, Guy Montag, in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a dynamic character whose understanding of fire drastically changes throughout the novel.
Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, in New York City a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. One of the worst tragedies in American history it was know as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It was a disaster that took the lives of 146 young immigrant workers. A fire that broke out in a cramped sweatshop that trapped many inside and killed 146 people.
The year was 1910, A young and eager William O’Dwyer slowly walked out of the ship to take in his new surroundings. He could feel the crisp New York City air on his face like a cool fan on a hot day. All around him he could see smokestack chimneys, frantic businessmen, and performers who dreamed of stardom. People come to New York City for a fresh start. And that was exactly what he planned to do. With $23.34 in his pocket he set out to start his new life. Little did he know that in 36 short years, he would be the mayor of the greatest city in the world.
Frances Perkins attended the male high school of Worcester, went on in nineteen hundred-two to receive her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, and a Masters at Columbia where she studied sociology and economics (Severn 11). After finishing her education, Perkins moves to the state of New York to work for the government as a factory inspector (Mohr 32). In Albany she began to lobby for a bill that would limit a woman's workweek to fifty-four hours. Though met with great opposition, this cry for action got her noticed by Al Smith and Robert F. Wagner who she would work with closely later down the road (Severn 40). In defeat, she went to Manhattan and was an eyewitness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on March 25, 1911. This inspired her to forerun on fire and working conditions regulations in New York, and was the “torch that lightened up the political scene,” in her favor. Having prev...
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.