Throughout my first semester of honors American History class, and reading of Triangle by David Von Drehle, I have learned that there are many similarities to the book, as well as the lessons that I have been taught on the certain time period. Terms such as Womens suffrage, as well as workplace conditions have stood out heavily. During the time of the Triangle shirtwaist factory, these two terms seem to come up constantly, just as they do in class through the lessons that are taught. In the book Triangle the fire that changed America, many of the problems occurring throughout this event relate back to the events I have studied thoroughly in class, throughout my first semester of learning.
Womens suffrage has always been a key factor to society, even in today’s world. In the book, throughout the shirtwaist company, many of the women factory workers were not being treated as they should, and because of this wanted to make things fair for themselves. This led to groups such as the women’s suffrage movement to happen. As I have learned in class, the women’s suffrage movement was a time where many women felt as if they deserved more. They were not getting equal pay and felt as if they were not treated as fairly as men. One event during the book described, “a dozen or so young women picketing outside the Triangle, at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street, (Drehle 49-50).” These women wanted fair and equal treatment like the men were receiving and were going to fight until they had got what they felt they deserved. The women suffrage movement was a large factor in this time period, but it was influenced by the bad workplace conditions that these women were put in in the first place.
The workplace conditions, and lack of safety regulations in the early 1900’s greatly impacted the way many workers of this time period thought about their jobs. They were extremely disappointed in what they had to work with and were worried that a lack of safety could potentially lead way for a disaster, which it did. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory was caught on fire, and many people had to scramble to save their lives. Part of the reason for this was that there were almost no safety precautions. “If the weather was fair, it might spill onto the fire escape or relocate to the roof. Inside the air was fetid and the light was bad, (Drehle 41).” This quote reminds me of times in class where we learned about safety regulations, mainly because of the industrial revolution. Many new factories such as Triangle were being built, and the workplaces were not the cleanest, causing riots and many protests. This relates back to the triangle because many workers of the factory did not like how they were treated and wanted a change.
Overall, the events that influenced what students learn in classes today come directly from important events from our past, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Problems such as workplace conditions, and the women’s suffrage have come out of this. Sometimes students in present time don’t take for granite was has happened in the past, and feel as if everything bad is over with, but that is not true. Many men and women in our modern day still have problems with the way they are treated, which many times we learn in history class. We learn to not mistake the past with what is also happening in present time. Overall, the book Triangle, and other disasters in history, have paved the way for modern day history teachers to teach their students about these topics, in hope that it will not happen again.
