Book Review Of Fordlandia By Greg Grandin

Fordlandia Fordlandia by Greg Grandin is a book about an industrial town and rubber plantation in the Amazon rainforest, created by Henry Ford. The intention of Fordlandia was to extract raw materials especially rubber for the production of Ford motor cars. It was also an attempt to sort of recreate an American society in the jungles of the Amazon. Fordlandia also centers around the trials and tribulations that had to be overcome in order to succeed. The author of Fordlandia mentions explicit details about Fordlandia that form his main argument about the plantation, Henry Ford and also the lives of Ford's workers. The author talks about the real impulse of Fordlandia through the treatment of his workers. Ford treated his workers with an

There are many reason why the rubber empire fell. Firstly, The Great Economic Depression particularly the battles fought against unions and employers (333). Big business plummeted during the Great Depression, it was no different for Ford's company, Therefore, the depression had a negative impact on Fordlandia. Secondly, the law known as the Wagner Act negatively impacted Fordlandia (333). The Wagner Act prevented employers from interfering with workers' unions and protests in the private sector. Workers started forming unions and labor organizations, which Henry Ford did not like. Violence also escalated greatly during these altercations between unions and employers. The Dearborn Massacre was a violent altercation which resulted in countless injuries (334). Taking advantage of the Wagner Act, workers at Fordlandia started filing a number of complaints. Workers also participated in work strikes (335). Also workers were warned not to join labor organizations. Therefore, workers in unions were wrongfully fired in large quantities (338). Lastly the eradication of trees, epidemics and also insects caused the rubber empire to fall. Blight had infected more than half of the trees in the Amazon. (341). A great swarm of caterpillars infested the forest. Although there were measures taken to eradicate them, they still flourished and grew into moths, they ate most of the leaves and then the leaves "were then

Firstly, women were paid significantly less during the time period of organized labor. Similarly Ford did not pay women the same five-dollar-a-day wage he paid men (41). Workers during this time worked for long hours, and were also paid less. But, that was not the situation at Fordlandia. Henry Ford believed that workers should work less and be paid more in order to keep the economy running smoothly. Similar to Henry Ford's workers and workers during this time, unions were formed. Workers formed unions and also participated in strikes in order to get their voices heard about the enormous labor unrest at Fordlandia. Secondly, Fordlandia was greatly impacted by the Great Economic Depression. Like every other industry during this time, Fordlandia experienced a great downfall. The Great Depression made business of any sort difficult (333). Henry Ford still paid his workers a high salary in an effort to aid his workers and fend off the effects of the Depression, but to no avail when the Depression was at its highest, Ford had to lay off half of his workers. Lastly, the relationship between business and government was very evident during the time period of Fordlandia. In the early industrial years of America, the government always took side with the employers. The voices of workers were never heard nor