Triangle Factory Fire Research Paper

Words: 500
Pages: 2

The Triangle Factory Fire took place on March 25, 1911. It made history by being the most deadly workplace fire to have ever occured in New York. The flames that attacked the top three floors of the Asch building killed 176 people. Families were left devastated and citizens were horrified. Most of the people that worked in that building were immigrants. They moved from another country, many wanting a better life. What was life actually like for the brave people who sailed across the ocean, hoping for change? Between the years 1900 and 1915 over 15 million immigrants arrived in America. This is about equal to the number of immigrants who arrived in the previous forty years combined. The majority of newcomers came from non English speaking countries. It was during this time of immigration that the Triangle Factory Fire took place. Most of the people working in the Asch building at this time were Italian or Jewish. Jewish families were trying to escape the prosecution and economic hardships that were taking place in their home countries. Italians came across the sea with the promise of wealth and prosperity in America. (Haddix 283) …show more content…
There were many job opportunities in New York, most of them being factory jobs. Factories in the early 1900’s were not the same as factories are today. Very dangerous machinery combined with underage workers did not make for very safe working conditions. Accidents causing deaths were very common, even more so than in today’s factories. In the Asch building, an average work day was twelve hours long and employees made a dollar and a half a week. That’s about equivalent to 38 dollars today. (Newman and