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Henry Ford's Impact On Society

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Automobiles are such a critical part of the average American today. Going to school, going to work, going shopping, going the do leisure activities, and travel are all made easy by the simple fact that people have access to automobiles. The invention of the automobile has paved the way for the American Society to be successful for many years.
Technology for the automobiles existed a few years before Henry Ford invented the assembly line, but Ford’s invention jumpstarted the production of what is known as one of the greatest inventions of mankind. Workers were paid a mere $5 dollars a day to operate the assembly line, when most of the other workers at the other plants were paid $2 a day. Ford thought that if he would up their pay it would give …show more content…

By the end of the 1920’s, there were almost 25 million vehicles registered in the United States. By the 1920’s, companies such as General Motors and Chrysler offered different model designs and vehicles that had more features. This, in turn, gave Ford a run for their money, so they purchased a company that was going bankrupt, Lincoln. They made Lincoln their luxury models. The “guts” of the vehicle would be Fords, and the design of the body would be custom made by coach builders. Vehicles were evolving with technological advances. By the 1940’s, vehicles were commonly equipped with hydraulic 4-wheel brakes, radios, heaters, and automatic transmissions. The motors also became bigger, going from a 4-cylinder to a 6 cylinder in 1916, then in 1932 Ford released the V8.This meant that the vehicles were faster, and more …show more content…

These jobs include factory workers, highway workers, and people to produce the fuel, mechanics, and plenty of other jobs. One of the main reasons why the United States is one of the most mobile countries in the world is because of our highway system. This was done largely in part by President Eisenhower, who signed the Federal Aid Highway act of 1956. The act allowed the government to pay 90% of the highway fees while the states paid for the rest. The standard road was at least 4 lanes wide. The system was designed to be able to move military vehicles throughout the country with little

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388 Words | 2 Pages

Due to the existence of the automobile, the United States economy was changed forever. Originally, cars were hand made and only purchased by rich men due to their price. Due to Henry Ford, automobiles were eventually made available to the masses due to the fact that he concocted a way to produce the machine cheaper. This method was the assembly line, which impacted the amount of jobs available and the increased need of highways. The Geography of Nowhere, written by James Kunstler, discusses how the automobiles transformed America’s economy.

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He began paying his employees $5 per day, which is double what a factory worker would make in a day and nearly double what other automakers pay their employees. For workers in the 20th century, this was one of the major turning points. Additionally, Ford shortened the workday to eight hours, enabling the business to run three shifts continuously, which greatly improved factory efficiency, and the five-day workweek was then

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216 Words | 1 Pages

Moving into the 20th century Henry Ford from Detroit became an iconic individual that represented the auto industry. Due to the creation of the automobile it was Ford that was recognized as changing the view of American. Rather than allowing Americans to be labeled as the rick of the poor it was Ford who created the middle class that would open the section of Americans to not only be viewed as rich or poor.[6] While Ford was a young boy he was deeply influenced by the steam engine, which was a source of power for individuals to get around rather than depending on trains. During the 19 hundreds companies were starting the creation of automobiles following Karl Bens creation of the first gasoline powered three-wheeler.[1] Although, many companies

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919 Words | 4 Pages

More automobiles were manufactured and bought by people that made their life much easier. However, the machinery was dangerous and laborers worked for unfair employers. “You are surrounded… with an infinite number of comforts and conveniences which had no existence two or three centuries ago and those comforts are not only used by a few, but are within the reach of almost all men. Every day is adding something to your comforts” (Document 9). Every day, new machines and devices were developed for the satisfaction of the people who used those contraptions.

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423 Words | 2 Pages

1920s Automobiles Think of the automobiles around today, luxury cars with seat heaters, touch screen radios, sunroofs, and more, now imagine not having all the luxury and taking it all the way back to the very vehicle. 1920’s automobiles began with the Ford Model T, production of 10 iconic cars, and the legends of the “Big Three” automotive companies. The Model T was a four-cylinder, twenty-horsepower automobile with a two-speed planetary transmission. The Model T had a detachable cylinder head therefore making it easy to repair and a high frame in order to easily go over bumps in rural roads. This vehicle was made from vanadium steel making it a lighter and tougher car and with new ways of casting parts the price was easy to keep down.

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Many American now began to fight for better wages so they could participate in the purchasing of the consumer goods such as the Model T car. Ford was creating a new class of living for the United States not only were they compensating their employees better than most companies but he was lowering the price of cars so that American would be able to purchase them on their income. After the creation of the assembly line Ford could lower the price of his cars by over half from $700 in 1910 to $316 in 1916. The car could be purchased by the working class of America.

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Those who sold and manufactured cars made huge profits. The automobile took a rise over time and soon became the most popular mode of transportation. These automobiles allow people to travel and transfer goods more efficiently. Industrialization is changing America. Entering the era of World War I, automobiles displayed many benefits to America.

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Automobiles in the 1920’s For years means of transportation in America has been limited to riding on the back of a horse , riding in a wagon that's being pulled by a mule, or the thousands of miles of steel railroads that stretched across america. Until someone had the thought to place 2000 pounds of steel on two axles that connect a set of four wheels all powered by an engine, which would be the birth of the automobile. Even though the the invention of the automobile was groundbreaking it wouldn’t be until the 1920’s until the automobile industry would truly have a impact .The 1920’s would be a revolutionary decade for the development and innovations of automobiles, which would ultimately lead to the improvement of the American economy and expanded the limitations of the modern American life One of the main factors of the 1920’s being a prominent decade for automobiles was the growth of automobile manufacturer companies. The car company Ford has always been a major automobile company since the first automobile was invented, and for many years it remained as the big car company.

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The automobile was an expensive toy to have for the typical everyday working man, but with Henry Ford’s idea for the assembly line made the price drop immensely. Henry Ford idealized mass production in a time where jobs were needed and he could hire people for low wages to make the cost of his design lower. “Cheap raw materials and a chronic shortage of skilled labor early encouraged the mechanization of industrial processes in the United States” (Foner). With new immigrants coming to America the need for jobs skyrocketed, and even for native born the search was difficult. Henry Ford constructed the first assembly line and opened up new opportunities for the need of employment by anyone.

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1392 Words | 6 Pages

Many people felt the urge to flaunt their possessions because they could with the help of the growing economy. This era was also known as the unprecedented affluence due to the unexpected abundance of wealth, property, and riches. Henry Ford transformed society for the better by introducing the assembly line, which was a line of workers and machines, assigned to one task and working on a product that would be passed and assembled at each point. This method allowed for autos to be produced faster and more efficiently, which was considered mass production. Mass production resulted in cheaper prices of consumer items, therefore, American citizens, including the middle class, could potentially afford it.

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913 Words | 4 Pages

If you look at the world today almost all cars are made on an assembly line but of curse with improved technology from 1914, looking at the cars of today they outclass any of the cars made by Henry ford back in the day. You have the best engines, turbo, cars with 600 horsepower and more, it is scary seeing how machinery has improved over the past century. The market has grew rapidly now offering all types of cars at different prices, cars that are capable of going from 0-100 km in less then 3 seconds, cars with ceramique break system that can stop a car going at high speed within seconds. The car industry of today runs on machines and relies on them majorly as it is the main source of manufacturing in the car

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1892 Words | 8 Pages

One-hundred forty people worked the 150-foot assembly line in which all Ford cars including the Model T and most Ford cars thereafter were built (Goss). Because of the assembly line, Henry Ford was able to reduce the Model T’s cost from eight hundred fifty dollars in 1908 to only two hundred sixty dollars in 1924. Eight hundred fifty dollars and two hundred sixty dollars are equal to twenty-one thousand dollars and three thousand five hundred dollars today, respectively. The common man could not afford the first Model T, but more and more Americans could afford the Model T as time passed (Goss). Assembly-line production also brought in a multitude of new jobs, including jobs for disabled citizens, African Americans, and women that many companies did not originally hire.

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

Automobiles were affordable and were designed carefully. The majority of these cars were produced by the Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford, who designed a different model each year to satisfy the insatiable crowd. Many of the automotive innovations that we think of as being modern—like electric powered cars, four wheel drive, front wheel drive, hybrid fuel and electric cars—were introduced during the 1920s. The automobiles had various different colors in order to get the attention of people, especially woman, and through time, they evolved to become more comfortable to drive for men (Scott ,1). The automobiles were beneficial to the U.S because they expanded the area of habitat.

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2350 Words | 10 Pages

The model A was made to replace the model T, as the beloved model T’s market was suffering in the mid 1920s when competition increased due to other manufactures producing vehicles of similar price and greater sophistication. This therefore made Henry Ford relook at the Model T and develop the Model A to compete with the emerging vehicles. He did this with the aid of his son, Edsel Ford. The model A was a more complex vehicle although it was more driver friendly than the model T, with its simple and accessible components that made it easier to drive than it was before. The model A also came in a variety of styles; there were almost two dozen different styles available to choose from, with each style there was a standard and a deluxe model.

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The Rise of the Automobile in 1920s in The Great Gatsby Perhaps no invention affected American everyday life in the 20th century more than the automobile. The invention and improvement of the automobile not only changed the America society, but also the whole world. The rapidly growing automobile industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produced new and better models every year to supply the insatiable public demand. Increased wages and lower cost vehicles made possible through mass production meant that cars became increasingly affordable, although 3 out of 4 cars were bought on installment plans.

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