The Triangle Factory Fire Trial: Blanck and Harris go Free
After the devastating Triangle Waist Company fire, 146 workers out of the 500 working that day perished in the raging fire. Workers died left and right due to panic, confusion, and chaos. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were blamed for the deaths of the many workers. Many people believed that they locked doors and that their fire safety precautions were almost nonexistent. They were taken to court on charges of manslaughter and were found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter (Christianson). Many people were outraged, causing many civil suits in the future.
Firstly, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were mostly blamed for the 146 deaths at the Triangle Waist Company. They were …show more content…
The trial started on December 4th, 1911, and ended about twenty days later. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were charged with the manslaughter death of Margaret Schwartz. Charles S. Bostwick used witnesses to try and support his testimony that the locked door caused the death of Margaret Schwartz. The witnesses were asked to repeat their statement multiple times. Each time, their statements used similar language and phrases. Defense attorney Max D. Steuer used this to show that the girls had been coached on what to say during the trial, destroying most of the witnesses’ credibility (Trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu). Although Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were free, their legal woes were not yet …show more content…
But because of the concept of double jeopardy, meaning that someone cannot be charged for the same crime twice, the case was dropped. However, many families of the deceased Triangle Waist Company workers still demanded justice. “Three years after the fire, on March 11, 1914, twenty-three individual civil suits against the owner of the Asch Building were settled. The average recovery was $75 per life lost” (Linder par. 27). Although Blanck and Harris may have been the reason that the 146 workers died, they only paid about $75 dollars per death. Overall, they paid about $1,725 for about 23
After the devastating Triangle Waist Company fire, 146 workers out of the 500 working that day perished in the raging fire. Workers died left and right due to panic, confusion, and chaos. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were blamed for the deaths of the many workers. Many people believed that they locked doors and that their fire safety precautions were almost nonexistent. They were taken to court on charges of manslaughter and were found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter (Christianson). Many people were outraged, causing many civil suits in the future.
Firstly, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were mostly blamed for the 146 deaths at the Triangle Waist Company. They were …show more content…
The trial started on December 4th, 1911, and ended about twenty days later. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were charged with the manslaughter death of Margaret Schwartz. Charles S. Bostwick used witnesses to try and support his testimony that the locked door caused the death of Margaret Schwartz. The witnesses were asked to repeat their statement multiple times. Each time, their statements used similar language and phrases. Defense attorney Max D. Steuer used this to show that the girls had been coached on what to say during the trial, destroying most of the witnesses’ credibility (Trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu). Although Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were free, their legal woes were not yet …show more content…
But because of the concept of double jeopardy, meaning that someone cannot be charged for the same crime twice, the case was dropped. However, many families of the deceased Triangle Waist Company workers still demanded justice. “Three years after the fire, on March 11, 1914, twenty-three individual civil suits against the owner of the Asch Building were settled. The average recovery was $75 per life lost” (Linder par. 27). Although Blanck and Harris may have been the reason that the 146 workers died, they only paid about $75 dollars per death. Overall, they paid about $1,725 for about 23