“One of those who are on strike against intolerable conditions. I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in general terms. What we are here for is to decide whether we shall strike or shall not strike. I offer a resolution that a general strike be declared… now!”

—Clara Lemlich

This blog post represents what my notes on the book Flesh & Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin. It develops the various causes and effects of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. It talks about how immigration led into the concept of exploiting workers and eventually the tragedy that was 146 lives lost in a factory fire in New York. It shows the horrors and the glory of how workers’ rights gradually formed in the immigration hub that was New York in the  1900s, showing both the bright side and the dark side of what happened.

I hope these notes bring you interest in the revolution that occurred in New York in the early 1900s.

The central ideas I developed relate to how the

Triangle Fire happened. The working conditions at the time were needless to say, terrible. Bosses exploited workers to the maximum just to squeeze out as much profit as possible. This went to the point that bosses would literally turn clocks just to make workers work for more hours.

Another idea that was brought up in the book was the idea that immigration helped the American economy. This was because there were more opportunities in America than in the Pale of Settlement (an area in Western Russia where jews were allowed permanent residence) and Southern Italy, where most of the immigrants were came from.

These two images show the page in my notes where I found descriptive language that connected to the main ideas, large causes and effects in my novel that connected to the overarching idea in the book, and some of the details I found after rereading and researching.

In the descriptive language I found, I noticed that the author, Albert Marrin, uses language to increase the effect that the central ideas that he wants to express have on us. He uses language to exacerbate the effect that he wants to show. In the first few pages, he describes how people jumped in twos and threes to really show the horror of the scene and how many people died.

In the causes and effects I found, they connected to why people immigrated and why people vouched for workers’ rights. They also connect to their various effects. These connect to our modern world because the strikers back then helped lay the foundation for modern workers’ rights, something that we could not live without.

Finally, my rereading and research helped me gain a better understanding of a character and the situation at the time. My rereading helped me find how what preceded the events of the Triangle Fire: since when working conditions were horrible and why people relied on such shops with such working conditions. The research led me to understand the motives and reasoning behind Clara Lemlich, an important character behind the induction of workers’ rights within the US.

After I finished the book, I made a page representing the timeline of the entire story and how previous events led to the Triangle Fire and what followed after the devastating event. It shows some of the key events that happened in the story and what had changed within the New York workplace by the end.

Thank you for checking out my blog post. If you are interested in the subject matter, check out Flesh & Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin, or check out other sources online that pique your interest. Once again, thank you!

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