While societal change is gradual, it is punctuated by moments when circumstances reach a critical point. The large-scale paradigm shifts in American history can all be tied to small events that result from preceding socioeconomic conditions and the catalyst for future change. Examples of these small events that can lead the difference in a nation's history are the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973, and the murder of Emmett Till.
During the early twentieth century's push for workers' rights and corporate regulation, few events proved as integral as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911. After an unextinguished match or cigarette started a fire in a rag bin, 143 women were burned alive, and two later died of severe injuries. The cause of the catastrophe was not the unextinguished flame but the abhorrent fire safety and working regulations at the time. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory had no fire escapes, sprinklers, or fire extinguishers and only one functional elevator out of the four in the building. In addition, every staircase door was locked to prevent stealing. While the owners' choices, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, were immoral and short-sighted, they cannot be blamed entirely for the disaster; they weren't engaging in any illegal activity, as there were simply no regulations in place. The fire forced politicians to stop ignoring safety in the workplace and finally input the necessary rules. Laws were put in place to improve the accessibility of buildings, establish fireproofing guidelines, and require fire extinguishers' installation. As a result of the fire, the New York Fire Prevention Bureau was established, and the powers of the Fire Commissioner were expanded. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire had implications far beyond the legislation put in place directly following, however. The loss of life that day would forever implant the importance of workers' rights in the minds of politicians and the American public. In subsequent years, the minimum wage was increased, and limitations were placed on the number of hours employers could expect their employees to work on a given day or week. The effects of this disaster still benefit us indirectly in many ways today.
The Civil Rights movement was the first point in American history during which racial equality issues were in the limelight. One of its primary impetuses was the murder of Emmett Till in 1955. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered, to an unrecognizable level, by two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam. After going to a convenience store to pick up refreshments with his cousin after picking cotton, Emmett allegedly whistled to the store clerk, Carolyn Bryant, which sparked unfathomable anger in her husband. After kidnapping the boy from his uncle's home, they beat him brutally, dragged him to a river, shot him in the head, tied him with barbed wire to a metal fan, and threw him into the water. Before the murder and the follow...
