Triangle : The Fire That Changed America

  1. What is the importance of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? What makes it more important than just a fire?
  2. What did Clara Lemlich represent? Why did factory owners fear her?
  3. In the Jewish community who was to be the main provider for the scholarly members o the family?
  4. What is Tammany Hall? How did Tammany Hall operate? How will the fire transform the organization? Who were some of the leaders?
  5. What is the difference between honest graft and dishonest graft?
  6. Describe life in the tenements.
  7. What is the connection between young socialites and the striking women?
  8. How did Eastern Europeans change voting patterns in New York City?
  9. Describe Max Blanck and Isaac Harris and their rise to prosperity.
  10. What is a lockout?
  11. How did the police support the strikers?
  12. How did Blanck and Harris counter the shirtwaist workers’ strike?
  13. Who was Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont?
  14. Did the socialites help or damage the strike with their support? Explain.
  15. Was the strike successful? Explain
  16. What drove Jews like Rosie Freedman from Russia?
  17. What was the purpose of Ellis Island?
  18. Describe a tenement.
  19. What was the average work week for the shirtwaist workers? Why was Saturday important?
  20. Describe the hierarchy of the workers in the factory.
  21. Why did Charles Seymour Whitman feel he could prosecute Blanck and Harris?
  22. What did the Fire Marshall say caused the large death toll?
  23. What prevented Tammany Hall from having an impact on the Triangle Fire?
  24. Who was Frances Perkins and what was her effect on the aftermath of the fire?
  25. Robert F. Wagner and Alfred Smith were Tammany Hall politicians. How did the fire affect their careers?
  26. What kept the Progressives from being more successful? Think about this quote “When in doubt, reformers form committees.”
  27. The Factory Investigating Commission transformed the New York Democratic Party. How?
  28. What safety laws passed in New York because of the Triangle Fire?
  29. Who was Max Steuer? What was his strategy?
  30. What was the verdict of the case against Blanck and Harris?
  31. How did the Triangle Fire help influence Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal?