Labor Issues During the Industrial Revolution

The fire that consumed the Triangle Shirtwaist Company on March 25, 1911, helped open the eyes of many people on the need to reform labor policies. Throughout this lesson, you will investigate the causes of the fire, the consequences, and the reform begun due to this fire.

To explain changes in work and the workplace during the Industrializaion Revolution and to discover the unregulated working conditions promoted by the laissez-faire attitude of the government during this time period.

This lesson is a good introduction to the need and beginning of the call for labor reform.  As an introduction to the Progressive Era labor reforms, students will gain an understanding of the manner in which business went unchecked during the Industrial Revolution.  Students will also gain an understanding of the treatment of young immigrant workers at the beginning of the 20th century and the changing dynamics of women in the workplace.

Task

 

During this process, you will read through and answer background questions regarding the fire.  You will also view and analyze primary source documents relating to the fire.  

The final project will be to write a first person account of the fire, either from the view point of a worker who survived, a worker who did not survive, one of the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, or a family member of a worker who did not survive.  The paper will consist of 4 paragraphs.  The first paragraph will deal with the reasons/feelings going to work the first day.  The second paragraph will describe a typical day at work.  The third paragraph will be a description of the fire (causes should be alluded to in this paragraph).  And the final paragraph will be a description of the outcome of the court case and the manner in which the fire prompted different codes to be enacted and labor issues to be looked at.

 

Phase I

You will be using the following web-site will be used throughout the assignment::  http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/. 

 

In this step, students will need to answer background questions regarding the tragedy.  

 

Phase II

In the section, the same web-site will be used, but will be viewing and analyzing primary source documents.

 

First, choose one of the following links to follow within the reading:  “My First Job”, “Days and Dreams”, “Among the Poor Girls”, or “Life in the Shop”.  In one paragraph, no fewer than 7 good sentences, explain the excitement and anticipation the writer felt.  Were there any feelings of trepidation (uncertainty)?  Write this response on a separate sheet of paper with the title “Primary Source:  Workers”.

 

Second, browse the web for a primary source newspaper article regarding the fire.  In one paragraph, no fewer than 7 good sentences, explain the viewpoint the article takes on the event.  This assignment needs to be typed into a Writer document, and titled “Primary Source:  Article”.  Alsonclude the web-site the article was found at. 

 

Finally, read through the survivor’s stories.  In one written paragraph, no less than 7 sentences, titled “Primary Source:  Survivors” explain the emotions of survivors or of those witnessing the event.

 

Phase III

In this section,l use all of the information gathered and create a first person point of view written assignment regarding the fire.  This response will need to be 4 paragraphs, each no less than 7 sentences, and will take the viewpoint of someone involved, either directly or indirectly, in this event.  Necessary to be included in the response will be feelings about and reasons for working at the factory, a description of a typical work day at the Triangle, a description of the day of the fire (include health and safety hazards that contributed to the disaster), and a summary of the outcome of the trial and codes and labor regulations that were evalulated after the fire.  This will need to be typed and titled “Triangle Shirt Waist Company Response”.

Computers with Internet access

Copies of The Triangle Shirtwaist Project Description

Copies of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Background Information Worksheet

Copies of the various primary source documents found on the web-sites

Grading rubric

Students will be scored on the completed worksheets as well as on the first person account of the fire.  Each paragraph needs to contain at least three historically accurate events and should represent the viewpoint from which the paper is being written.  Grammar and structure of the paper will also be evaluated.