The American Industrial development during 1890-1911 brought many successes for the country, however workers experienced misery within the walls of manufacturing companies. The “Shirtwaist Kings,”[1] Max Blanck, Issac Harris, and many other business owners started their garment business in a small and crammed tenant with desperate, poor and immigrant workers, best known as sweatshops. Although these garment kings struggled through the “industrial revolution, a dark age of chaos…,”[2] in 1902 the Triangle Waist Company moved into a modern skyscraper, where the true tragedy affected the lives of many. Similarly, the mills in the United States allowed its employees to experience the harsh working conditions. Lastly, Andrew Carnegie was the king of steel production, yet, his workers did not experience the same luxuries. He carried out his company and his employees with a “dictatorial hand.”[3] The working conditions during the industrial development cursed the lives of many hard working employees.
Blanck and Harris, owners of the Triangle Waist Company, were “driven by an ambitious born in oppression and distilled by economic hardship.”[4] The working environment for the Triangle Waist employees was a disaster. Even though the new building was larger than the tenements, the owners stuffed the working floors with twice as many workers. The crowded workrooms made it poorly ventilated and claustrophobic for the employees. Besides the crowdedness, these poor women had to endure twelve hours of work every day of the week.[5] Most employees expected a high pay after a long day of work but that was not the case at all. These workers received a pay of five cents, if they got lucky. Frequently, employees were charged for the needle and thread for the garments or even have to pay a weekly installment for using the sewing machines. Through the exhaustion of long and monotonous hours, it was common for the Triangle Waist employees to affect by tuberculosis or also known as “the tailors’ disease.”[6] As the floor levels of the factory grew with people it became more unsanitary and fire hazards for the workers. Actually, in1911, the Triangle Waist Company and its employees experienced a tragedy. A fire broke out on the ninth floor and quickly caught cloth and lint into flames. As the women furiously rushed out through the only fire escape stairs which collapsed due to the amount and weight of the women. Meanwhile, others decided to try to escape through the only entrance/exit door and as it turns out the door was locked. Blanck and Harris believed it prevented stealing and encouraged workers to stay at their machines. At this point, the employees had to make a choice between jumping out of the window of the ninth floor or die from the flames of fire. The deaths of 147 out of 500 women[7] occurred on the ninth floor because the Triangle Waist Company liked to have the door locked.
Just as the Triangle Waist Company allowed their workers to endure harsh working conditions, mill factory employees experienced many similar conditions. Most mill workers lived on company-owned homes near the factory. In fact, it was so near that the mill rang a bell at 4 a.m. and gave the employees about an hour to get to work. Then, they were expected to work for twelve to fourteen hours a day for six days out of the week.[8] Of course, the pay system in the mills was very little. Actually, “the average pay in 1900s for southern mills was four times lower than northern mills.” Pay also depended upon the gender, age, and the number of machines operated by each person.[9] Obviously wagers were unfair and not sufficient to survive from therefore all family members had to work. Furthermore, many of the mills had low lighting which made workers strain their eyes so they do not injure themselves. Although injuries were common among mill workers, employers did not provide injury compensation or take any responsibility for the hurt that machines caused from mechanical error. Since employers could not benefit from injured workers, the owners would fire and replace them with desperate and poor immigrants, children or women. Even though the mill workers experienced less injures, it was easy to get tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. These conditions spread through the factories due to poorly ventilated air. The extreme weather within the mills helped workers to come in contact with tuberculosis which affects several organs in the body. Additionally, the owners commanded to have the factory windows closed to prevent threads from breaking which explains why poor ventilation causes respiratory disease. Specifically in cotton mills, the dust particles in the air is inhaled by the workers which caused a decrease in breathing abilities overtime resulting of “Brown Lung,”[10] a respiratory disease. Moreover, the cotton mill workers had to endure allergic reactions from the cotton fibers, they usually dealt with a skin disease called dermatitis.[11] Consequently, injuries, tuberculosis, and dermatitis increased the number of deaths in the mills. These issues did not just occur in mills but in sweatshops and even the modern factories like the Triangle Waist Company and Andrew Carnegie’s steel company.
By 1890s, Andrew Carnegie was the mastermind of the steel industry by “vertically integrat[ing]” the steel production from start to finish which made him a fortune. Although Carnegie’s steel was sold at inexpensive price that only meant that labor had to be cheap as well, resulting in low wages and lack of job security. Surely, it was heartbreaking for the men that Carnegie was a millionaire and he could not even give his own workers a raise. Yet, his employees were treated by a “dictatorial hand;”[12] for example, he only gave his steel workers fourth of July off, other than that, all employees were expected to come to work seven days of the week for twenty hours each day.[13] Just as any factory, it did not provide injury compensations, the hazardous machines left many workers injured and without a job or even dead. An 1893 worker claimed that “sometimes a chain breaks, and a ladle tips over, and the iron explodes.... Sometimes the slag falls on the workmen...” Moreover, these poor workers were not given a break, they were lucky if they could even catch their breaths; obviously, these men were exhausted to the point that it became easier to commit an error during the operation resulting in injuries.[14] Andrew Carnegie and many other business kings only prioritized their well-being and did not even consider their hard working employees.
The industrial workers suffered a great deal to make a living in
America’s prosperity. Many experienced the death of their loved ones because
business owners cared more about their product rather than the safety of their
employees. Workers were treated inhumane. The Triangle Waist Company treated
the women like animals by locking them in the building. The Mills did not care
that the buildings and operations harmed the health of workers. Unfortunately,
Carnegie’s famous factory had no sympathy for its workers, he had no desire in
improving the working conditions. None of the industrial kings cared about the
well-being of their employees, they only worried about their financial needs.
Blanck and Harris, owners of the Triangle Waist Company, were “driven by an ambitious born in oppression and distilled by economic hardship.”[4] The working environment for the Triangle Waist employees was a disaster. Even though the new building was larger than the tenements, the owners stuffed the working floors with twice as many workers. The crowded workrooms made it poorly ventilated and claustrophobic for the employees. Besides the crowdedness, these poor women had to endure twelve hours of work every day of the week.[5] Most employees expected a high pay after a long day of work but that was not the case at all. These workers received a pay of five cents, if they got lucky. Frequently, employees were charged for the needle and thread for the garments or even have to pay a weekly installment for using the sewing machines. Through the exhaustion of long and monotonous hours, it was common for the Triangle Waist employees to affect by tuberculosis or also known as “the tailors’ disease.”[6] As the floor levels of the factory grew with people it became more unsanitary and fire hazards for the workers. Actually, in1911, the Triangle Waist Company and its employees experienced a tragedy. A fire broke out on the ninth floor and quickly caught cloth and lint into flames. As the women furiously rushed out through the only fire escape stairs which collapsed due to the amount and weight of the women. Meanwhile, others decided to try to escape through the only entrance/exit door and as it turns out the door was locked. Blanck and Harris believed it prevented stealing and encouraged workers to stay at their machines. At this point, the employees had to make a choice between jumping out of the window of the ninth floor or die from the flames of fire. The deaths of 147 out of 500 women[7] occurred on the ninth floor because the Triangle Waist Company liked to have the door locked.
Just as the Triangle Waist Company allowed their workers to endure harsh working conditions, mill factory employees experienced many similar conditions. Most mill workers lived on company-owned homes near the factory. In fact, it was so near that the mill rang a bell at 4 a.m. and gave the employees about an hour to get to work. Then, they were expected to work for twelve to fourteen hours a day for six days out of the week.[8] Of course, the pay system in the mills was very little. Actually, “the average pay in 1900s for southern mills was four times lower than northern mills.” Pay also depended upon the gender, age, and the number of machines operated by each person.[9] Obviously wagers were unfair and not sufficient to survive from therefore all family members had to work. Furthermore, many of the mills had low lighting which made workers strain their eyes so they do not injure themselves. Although injuries were common among mill workers, employers did not provide injury compensation or take any responsibility for the hurt that machines caused from mechanical error. Since employers could not benefit from injured workers, the owners would fire and replace them with desperate and poor immigrants, children or women. Even though the mill workers experienced less injures, it was easy to get tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. These conditions spread through the factories due to poorly ventilated air. The extreme weather within the mills helped workers to come in contact with tuberculosis which affects several organs in the body. Additionally, the owners commanded to have the factory windows closed to prevent threads from breaking which explains why poor ventilation causes respiratory disease. Specifically in cotton mills, the dust particles in the air is inhaled by the workers which caused a decrease in breathing abilities overtime resulting of “Brown Lung,”[10] a respiratory disease. Moreover, the cotton mill workers had to endure allergic reactions from the cotton fibers, they usually dealt with a skin disease called dermatitis.[11] Consequently, injuries, tuberculosis, and dermatitis increased the number of deaths in the mills. These issues did not just occur in mills but in sweatshops and even the modern factories like the Triangle Waist Company and Andrew Carnegie’s steel company.
By 1890s, Andrew Carnegie was the mastermind of the steel industry by “vertically integrat[ing]” the steel production from start to finish which made him a fortune. Although Carnegie’s steel was sold at inexpensive price that only meant that labor had to be cheap as well, resulting in low wages and lack of job security. Surely, it was heartbreaking for the men that Carnegie was a millionaire and he could not even give his own workers a raise. Yet, his employees were treated by a “dictatorial hand;”[12] for example, he only gave his steel workers fourth of July off, other than that, all employees were expected to come to work seven days of the week for twenty hours each day.[13] Just as any factory, it did not provide injury compensations, the hazardous machines left many workers injured and without a job or even dead. An 1893 worker claimed that “sometimes a chain breaks, and a ladle tips over, and the iron explodes.... Sometimes the slag falls on the workmen...” Moreover, these poor workers were not given a break, they were lucky if they could even catch their breaths; obviously, these men were exhausted to the point that it became easier to commit an error during the operation resulting in injuries.[14] Andrew Carnegie and many other business kings only prioritized their well-being and did not even consider their hard working employees.
The industrial workers suffered a great deal to make a living in
America’s prosperity. Many experienced the death of their loved ones because
business owners cared more about their product rather than the safety of their
employees. Workers were treated inhumane. The Triangle Waist Company treated
the women like animals by locking them in the building. The Mills did not care
that the buildings and operations harmed the health of workers. Unfortunately,
Carnegie’s famous factory had no sympathy for its workers, he had no desire in
improving the working conditions. None of the industrial kings cared about the
well-being of their employees, they only worried about their financial needs.
[1] David Von Drehle, The Triangle (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003), 37.
[2] Von Drehle, 38.
[3] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History ( New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 593.
[4] Ibid., 46.
[5] Ibid., 41.
[6] Ibid.,42.
[7] Von Drehle, 221.
[8] Alina Chrostek, "Occupational Health and Safety in Textile,” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, Accessed February 11,
2014, http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1996/2/96.02.07.x.html., paragraph 9.
[9] Whitney Adrienne Ow, "Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989." Alabama Review 63 (2010): 254.
[10] Chrostek, paragraph 10.
[11] Chrostek, paragraph 12.
[12] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012),593.
[13] “Steel Business: The Lot of a Steel Worker,” KPBS: American Experience, accessed February 11, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mf_steelworker.html.
[14] “Andrew Carnegie: Steel Business,” KPBS: American Experience, accessed February 11, 2014.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mf_flames.html.
[2] Von Drehle, 38.
[3] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History ( New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 593.
[4] Ibid., 46.
[5] Ibid., 41.
[6] Ibid.,42.
[7] Von Drehle, 221.
[8] Alina Chrostek, "Occupational Health and Safety in Textile,” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, Accessed February 11,
2014, http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1996/2/96.02.07.x.html., paragraph 9.
[9] Whitney Adrienne Ow, "Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989." Alabama Review 63 (2010): 254.
[10] Chrostek, paragraph 10.
[11] Chrostek, paragraph 12.
[12] Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012),593.
[13] “Steel Business: The Lot of a Steel Worker,” KPBS: American Experience, accessed February 11, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mf_steelworker.html.
[14] “Andrew Carnegie: Steel Business,” KPBS: American Experience, accessed February 11, 2014.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/sfeature/mf_flames.html.