In my opinion, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was on of the most tragic events ever recorded in American history. If you've never heard of this event, its okay. I myself just recently heard of this event from my brilliant American history teacher; Ms. Hopkins.
What was the triangle shirtwaist fire?
The triangle shirtwaist fire was an event that took place in New York City in the Triangle Waste Company. On Saturday, March 11, 1911, the top floors of the triangle waste company engulfed in flames just before closing time.
The workers in this factory were locked in, to assure that no worker had a bathroom break. At the end of each day the workers had their "pocketbooks" inspected before leaving.
Shortly after the fire erupted, the employees on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors had two choices; be burned alive, or jump out of the window and hope to God that the Firemen rescue nets caught you safely.
Women jumped out in pairs and before they had time to realize, the nets were breaking. Wasn't to long after that, that firemen and bystanders were crushed by falling bodies. Seven of the 148 died in a hospital bed, the rest died instantly. This tragedy stole 148 of 500 young immigrant worker's lives, most of which were woman as young as 15 years-old.
Was it wrong for the women to be locked in a room all day with one bathroom break?
Um, duhh? Working 12 hours a day with one bathroom break is just cruel. The employee's of any company shouldn't have a limit on bathroom breaks. Bladder problems do exist and holding in your fluids is very bad for your kidneys. The worker's of this sweatshop, basically were locked in a room for 12 hours to assure that they didn't leave for a bathroom break, or any kind of break.
I myself can't go 12 hours without using the bathroom. I can't even go a whole seven hour school day without doing so. I would literally have to not drink a single drop of anything and stay dehydrated all day so I wouldn't have to use the bathroom, and that would most likely result in me fainting in the middle of class.
What happened after..
Some of the survivors and witnesses decided to action. This resulted in taking the two owners, Blanck and Harris, to court. These men had 23 individual civil suits against them. Three years after the incident the owners finally settled and paid $11,100.