Triangular Trade
deaths. Workers on the tenth floor were able to get to
the roof of the building and escaped over ladders
placed by students across to a nearby New York
University building. Almost 100 employees died inside the structure, while 47 jumped to their deaths from
the eighth and ninth floors to escape the flames. In total
146 workers died and 70 were seriously injured.
McClymer, John F. The Triangle Strike and Fire. Fort
Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998.
The company owners were indicted on charges of
criminal negligence, but were acquitted eight months
later in a jury trial and assessed only a small fine. They
later received $65,000 in insurance payments for property damage. The fire, regarded as one of the worst
industrial tragedies in U.S. history, aroused public
anger over management and government indifference
to worker safety. Women’s unionization activity escalated as the ILGWU stepped up efforts to improve
sweatshop conditions. Effects on local and national
politics were profound, beginning a 20 year effort to
introduce industry reforms.
Stein, Leon. The Triangle Fire. New York: Carroll and
Graf/Quicksilver Book, 1962.
One eyewitness to the catastrophe was Frances
Perkins (1880–1965), at the time a lobbyist for the New
York Consumers League. Perkins came away from the
tragic scene with even more determination to help
workers. The State of New York created a special
commission with Perkins as its chief investigator to
probe into factors surrounding the Triangle Shirtwaist
fire and industrial working conditions in general throughout the state. Three years later, in 1914, the commission issued its report calling for widespread changes.
One piece of legislation, passed over stiff opposition
from business management in the state, limited the
workweek for women and children to 54 hours. Perkins
also served as executive secretary of New York City’s
Committee on Safety influencing the passage of more
stringent city building codes and factory inspection
requirements. Perkins ultimately became the first woman
Presidential Cabinet member in the United States as
the Secretary of Labor for President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945). The only Cabinet member to serve
all four terms of Roosevelt’s presidency, Perkins was a
key person behind the New Deal’s socio-economic
reforms. The tragic event in New York had triggered
more intensive efforts through protective legislation to
gain the right of workers to safe working conditions.
TRIANGULAR TRADE
See also: Industrial Revolution, Women in the
Workplace, Working Conditions in Factories
FURTHER READING
Lehrer, Susan. Origins of Protective Labor Legislation
for Women, 1905–1925. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1987.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF U.S. ECONOMIC HISTORY
McEvoy, Arthur F. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Fire of 1911: Social Change, Industrial Accidents,
and the Evolution of Commonsense Causality. Chicago: American Bar Association, 1994.
———. Out of the Sweatshop: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy. New York: Quadrangle/New Times
Book Company, 1977.
Tyler, Gus. Look for the Union Label: A History of the
International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1995.
Triangular trade refers to the various navigation
routes that emerged during the colonial period. There
were numerous triangular paths that ships made to
ferry people, goods (both raw and finished), and livestock. The most traveled triangular route began on
Africa’s west coast where ships picked up slaves. The
second stop was the Caribbean islands—predominately the British and French West Indies—where slaves
were sold to plantation owners; in turn, traders used the
profits to purchase sugar, molasses, tobacco, and coffee. These raw materials were then transported north to
the third stop, New England, where a rum industry was
thriving. There ships were loaded with spirits. Traders
made the last leg of their journey—back across the
Atlantic to Africa’s west coast, where the process
began again.
On another route, manufactured goods were transported from Europe to the African coast, slaves were
sent to the West Indies, and sugar, tobacco, and coffee
were routed back to Europe, where the triangle began
again. On yet another route, lumber, cotton, and meat
were transported from the colonies to southern Europe,
wine and fruits went to England and manufactured
goods routed to the colonies, where the triangle began
again. There were as many possible routes as there
were ports and demands for goods.
The tragic result of the triangular trade was the
transport of an estimated 10 million black Africans.
Sold into slavery, these human beings were often
chained below deck and allowed only brief, if any,
1017
Tribute
North
America
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Bay of
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Spain
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North Atlantic Ocean
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WINE, FRUIT
Baltimore
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England
English
Channel
English
Colonies
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Charleston
Savannah
ES
RS
LIN
EN
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TRIANGULAR TRADE
Portugal
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Africa
WEST
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Major Centers of Trade
Major Ocean Trade Routes
The various Atlantic Trade Routes of the 18th Century were triangular in design. Natural resources shipped from the colonies to
England, manufactured goods from England shipped to the colonies and Africa, and slaves from Africa shipped back to the
colonies.
periods of exercise during the Atlantic crossing (which
came to be called the Middle Passage). Conditions for
the slaves were brutal and improved only slightly when
traders realized that if slaves perished during the long
journey across the ocean, it would adversely affect
their profits in the West Indies. After economies in the
islands of the Caribbean crashed at the end of the
1600s, many slaves were sold to plantation owners on
the North American mainland, thus initiating another
tragic trade route. The slave trade was abolished during
the 1800s, putting an end to the forced migration of
Africans to the Western Hemisphere along these routes.
See also: Middle Passage, Molasses Act of 1733,
Slavery, Sugar, Tobacco
TRIBUTE
Tribute is payment made to a ruling or conquering
nation by subjugated people in acknowledgment of
1018
submission or as a price for protection from other
countries. Derived from the Latin word tributum, referring to property tax paid by Roman citizens, the term
evolved to mean taxes levied on conquered peoples.
Nations increased their wealth through these taxes.
After Cortez conquered the Aztec in 1521, the
American Indians had to pay a special tax called a
tribute to the Spaniards. Two slightly different perspectives on tribute existed in China for centuries. The
Chinese used tribute to solidify political and trade ties
with neighboring nations. China also received tribute
from less powerful princes in Central and Southwest
Asia and Korea, but returned to those countries gifts of
equal value to the tribute.
In U.S. history, tribute is associated with U.S.
shipping and the Barbary States of Northern Africa,
including Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. The
Barbary States are part of modern-day Algeria, Libya,
Morocco, and Tunisia. The Barbary Coast pirates had,
since the 16th century, accepted payments or valuable
presents in exchange for allowing merchant ships
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF U.S. ECONOMIC HISTORY