The Unfinished Nation: Henry Ford's Salary

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One controversial decision Henry Ford made in 1914 was to increase salaries of workers to five dollars a day. This wage was unprecedented for the time period and had a large impact on the workers. According to the book The Unfinished Nation, by Alan Brinkley, one aspect of the gospel of wealth is that “people of great wealth should consider all revenues in excess of their own needs to be ‘trust funds’ used for the good of the community” (413). In essence, that is what Henry Ford was doing when he increased the wages of his workers to five dollars a day. He redistributed the surplus of wealth that he acquired to those who would benefit from it more. The bonus divided ten million dollars among his workers every year and “would take about half

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