Henry Ford: The History Of The Automobile In The 18th Century

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Imagine how life would be if our society did not have cars. Today, our society is depended on cars for our daily routines. From getting our food, clothes, and technology to just going to the store across the street, cars are a very important part of our society. In the 18th century, only the wealthy people had access to automobiles, and they only used cars for fancy transportation and to show off their money. This was because of the extreme prices of cars in the 18th century. With these high prices not many people could afford them, especially not the working class. Henry Ford reevaluated the automobile industry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. With Ford's enthusiasm to mechanics, he perfected the assembly line, developed cheap cars for the common people, and sparked an era of mass production. Because of this, Ford paid higher and his actions allowed the common people to have access to cars. Henry Ford married Clara Ala Bryant in 1888 and supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. They had one child, Edsel Ford. He was named after Henrys best childhood friend. Ford's innovation of the assembly line transformed the automobile industry from just an expensive piece of fancy metal with wheels to a productive machine of American society. Many people assume that Henry Ford invented the assembly line, however, they were wrong. Henry Ford only improved it very greatly and used it in his factories to produce them better and faster. Ford perfected it to be used for mass production. The assembly line allowed for production to increase in the factories. This was because everyone had a specific job within the factory. The worker was only focused on the one job they have which got rid of confusion and delay in p... ... middle of paper ... ...so hired women and handicapped men at a time when doing it was uncommon. In 1918, Ford's private secretary, Ernest G. Liebold, bought an interesting weekly newspaper for Ford, The Dearborn Independent. The Independent ran for eight years, from 1920 until 1927, with Liebold as editor. Every Ford franchise nation-wide had to carry the paper and hand it to its customers. The newspaper published The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was discredited by The Times of London as a forgery during the Independent's publishing run. The American Jewish Historical Society described the ideas presented in the magazine as "anti-immigrant, anti-labor, anti-liquor, and anti-Semitic." In February 1921, the New York World published an interview with Ford, in which he said: "The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is that they fit in with what is going on."

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