Henry Ford Research Paper

Henry Ford was a key individual for the advancements made by the human race. He was responsible for countless achievements. Such as the Model T in October 1908, which began the trend of putting the steering wheel on the left hand side of the automobile. Obviously this is still present today in modern cars.

Ford was born on July 30th, 1863, by his parents William and Mary Ford. He had 4 siblings which consisted of: Jane, Margaret, William Jr, and robert. Henry was the youngest.

Henry’s mother died in 1876. One day, Henry’s father gave him a pocket watch. Instead of using it as intended, Henry disassembled the watch and put it back together again. He began doing this with friends’ and

Neighbor’s watches. In fact, he became known as the watch

Still, Henry continued to operate on steam engines while occasionally working shifts in factories. Ford married Clara Bryant in 1888. They had a son named Edsel

(who would work alongside his father).

Henry became a night engineer for the Electric Illuminating Company in 1891. This was a more exciting job for Henry as electricity was a fairly new discovery. While working on the farm, he became very educated in operating the Westinghouse Portable Steam Engine. Over the years of hard work, Henry’s fascination with cars only grew. He brought together a group of friends and built his first ever automobile in 1896. The car consisted of 4 wire wheels, 2 forward speeds, and no reverse. It was also steered with a tiller, much like a boat.

Henry’s ideas obviously did not go unnoticed. Thomas Edison was completely supportive of Henry Ford’s endeavours. This of course gave Ford even more motivation. His second car was built in 1898, just two years later.

Ford understood what he wanted to do at this point. So, he resigned from the Illumination

Company and founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. Although, he was forced to shut it down due to his cars not performing well enough in the market. This did not stop

News spread quickly. This resulted in the Ford brand being known all around the states for being affordable, easy to drive, and cheap to repair.

Ford’s demand for automobiles was growing intense. Therefore, he introduced the moving assembly line into the making of cars. Since cars were being built faster than before, he could lower the cost of his vehicles. This only continued to provide affordable automobiles for everybody. Henry’s son, Edsel soon walked alongside his father in running the company. In fact,

Henry handed the company over to Edsel but continued to make the final decisions. Although, in

1943, Edsel died of cancer. Ford remained in control of the company, but became less involved and allowed the final decisions to be made by others. Edsel’s son, Ford’s grandson, Henry Ford

II was then made president of the company.

Some things mostly unknown about Henry Ford come from elsewhere. Henry did not support the US participating in war. He was a pacifist at heart. Although, during the war, Ford

Motor Company became one of the military’s major contractors. He supplied things such as airplanes, engines, jeeps, and