Around the world, we live in today, there are various international commodities. Commodities are a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought, sold, or traded across the globe. One major commodity that we often over look is the automobile. From the beginning of time to present day, the need for transportation and travel has grown dramatically. From carrying goods, to being traded, to being sold in car lots for personal use, the automobile is a huge part of our history and present day lives.
By the late 1700s, European engineers had already begun playing with the idea of a motor powered vehicle. By the time the next century was half way over, engineers had already attempted the steam, combustion, and electrical motors. Then, in the 1900s it was, at first, unclear as to which type of engine would power the automobile. Although many were in favor for the electric engine, the battery to power it was not invented yet(Matthew Dixon). Due to lack of technology, the steam engine powered automobiles until the 1920s. In the United States, mass or commercial production began at the beginning of the 1900s and was similar to Europe’s. Although American automobile plants were ran by using assembly lines, European industries were made up of small independent factories that used precise and handicraft methods(Wilkins).
Before we had automobiles, the horse-drawn transportation was the only way to move goods across lands in mass numbers. Although they were still able to travel horse-drawn, the farthest they were able to get was 10 to 15 miles. If a farm, or community, was farther than 15 miles away from water, railroads, or a city, it was isolated from social and economic mainstreams. The invention of the motor vehicle lead...
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...ories to build cars, factories are also creating various jobs around the world. Without these jobs, our already high unemployment rate will go up drastically even more(Wilkins). While there is jobs in the factories there are also jobs being created at wholesales and car lots. With more cars being assembled, more cars are needing to be sold. With the growing amount of cars needing to be sold, more salesmen and sales women are needed.
The automobile gave people a feeling of freedom that they had never felt before. Henry Ford helped free the common people from limitations of where they lived. They weren’t restricted to one place anymore, they had freedom(Matthew Dixon). With the creation of the automobile, mobility was on an all time high for the first time in history. The effects the automobile had, and still has, on living habits and social customs is numberless.
In Three stages of American automobile consciousness, Flink states that the automobile industry growing rapidly in both urban and suburban area , and it gradually becomes a core industry of the economy in the 20th century. The auto industry facilitates the relation between city and suburban area and speed the pace of building modern agriculture. So, it seems like that automobile do more good than harm in the rural area. For example, in Flink’s article, it says “The general adoption of the automobile by farmers promised to break down the isolation of rural life, lighten farm labor and reduce significantly the cost of transporting farm products to market. (p6，Three Stages of American Automobile Consciousness)” Whereas in fact the Kline and Pinch
In this year Henry Ford created the first affordable, combustion engine car called the Model-T. The creation of the Model-T changed the lives of every American. Vehicles were looked at as a way of freedom and excitement. Soon after, every household in America had a car. The demand for vehicles sparked a whole new industry, creating jobs, more revenues and improving the American economy in every way. With so many vehicles on the roads, roads needed to become bigger and better which spawned a nation wide road construction. This also created more jobs and strengthened the economy even further. (Inventions: Car)
After the steam engine was created in the early 17th century, many people and companies tried to take that same technology and apply it to automobiles. Nobody was successful until a British inventor by the name of Richard Trevithick created a multi passenger automobile that ran on a power source that was driven by a steam-propelled piston at high pressure (Bellis). Up until the mid 1900’s cars were only produced by specifically skilled blacksmiths, and were very expensive. There were only about 4,000 cars produced from the 1890’s to mid 1900’s (Bellis).
The 1920's were a time where North America became modernized. Whether it was the music, the culture or the growth in technology, this time era is known to most people as the point where America advanced itself to become a world renowned country. An advancement that will be focused on is the Ford Model T. During this time owning a car was a symbol of wealth. Henry Ford, the creator of the Model T, made a system that revolutionized the automobile industry as we know it today. Henry Ford made it possible for people with an average income to own a motor vehicle by creating the assembly line and the theory of mass production. "The horse, which had been the chief means of land transportation for 3,500 years, had given way to the automobile, and the country's largest industry had been born." (Gordon)
Before the 1920's Americans use to walk and ride their horses for transportation. But when Henry Ford came along, he invented the first car that would drastically change American lives. This car was so popular that 4 out 5 of Americans owned a car. Many Americans also bought it because it was affordable to the rich and poor. It was named car of the century by critics. The Model T improved peoples lives because it united families, improved working conditions, improved social lives between couples, and it was used in many different ways.
Henry Ford was the pioneer of the American automobile industry. He was born in 1863 near Dearborn, Michigan. Forty years later he started Ford Motor Company with the help of Thomas Edison. In 1908, Henry Ford forever changed the world with his Model T. Ford was known as a revolutionary person for not only making the automobile inexpensive but also for teaching workers proper skills and paying them steady wages. (Henry Ford Bio, 1) Only a mere six years later, Ford changed the world again with his invention of the moving assembly line in 1914. With the modern assembly line he was now able to mass produce his Model T. Nearly everything mass produced in the world is assembled on an assembly line thanks to Ford’s 100 year old idea. Not only did Ford make life easier for civilians by giving them affordable access to
By the early 1900’s, automobiles had become a common sight on the roads of the United States. Edison tried to create an electric battery that could power an electric car. Due to the abundant availability of gasoline, the electric car did not receive the response that Edison hoped for. However, the car battery was a huge success, and still plays a pivotal role in the automobile industry.
In the twentieth century, the introduction of the motor vehicle in the United States became not only noteworthy, but also vital in the development of modern American civilization. This technologically complex machine led citizens to vast future dependence on the invention. While mobility was suddenly not limited to alternative, more convoluted options such as railroad stations or bicycles, yet copiously amplified to aid convenience and expanded leisure opportunities. From auto-racing to redesigning infrastructure, motor vehicles allowed progression, digression, and essentially uttermost change to the lifestyles of the American people. This radical idea of the automobile permeated throughout America with most, if not all, credit renowned to Henry Ford.
The impact of the automobile between 1900 through 1945 was immense. It paved the way for a future dependency on the automobile. To paint a better picture, imagine life without an automobile. Everyday life would be dull, cumbersome, and tedious. An individual's mobility would be very limited. Basically, the life without an automobile could not be fathomed. The importance of the automobile is often taken for granite. Society may not know what appreciate the impact of the automobile and effects it has created. The impact of the automobile had both positive and negative effects on America between 1900 through 1945. Automobile provided an outlet for individuals and spread the freedom of travel among all classes of people. It also helped to introduce rural dwellers to the aspects of urban life and vice versa. One of the negative effects was that automobiles helped to put of big decline in the use of railroads. Over the course of the paper, I will try to expose the huge impact of the automobile an early twentieth century life.
The automobile had changed America in many ways since it has been created in the early 1900’s. When the automobile was first invented it was a thing only the rich could afford. After the invention of the mass production line more and more people were able to buy automobiles because they were being produce and sold for cheaper. A historian once said that Henry ford is the reason why common people have no limitations of their geography.
The Invention of The Automobile The first automobile was invented in Europe, however the automobile industry had an enormous favorable impact on the United States economy. Brown & Co. 329) There was not one specific person who "invented the automobile," but, there were many people who contributed to the invention of the automobile. (Ingrassia, 5) (Boyne, 31) These people include Isaac Newton, who developed a power carriage in the fourteen twenties, and Joseph Cugnot, who built the first steam powered automobile in seventeen sixty nine.
Starting in the 1920’s America began its shift towards a consumer culture as the economic growth of the nation began to depend more on the proliferation of consumer goods than of capital goods. Even at the outset of this trend, the automobile held a significant place in the new consumer economy. The automobile, which was once thought of as a rare luxury, was being sold by the millions. Assembly lines were becoming more efficient, thus allowing cars to be made more cheaply allowing the price of automobiles to drop. The growth of the automobile helped stimulate the economy through its dependence on other industries such as glass, rubber and steel, which were connected to the production of cars. These automobile related industries created new jobs, greater affluence and more spending power for millions of American consumers. Even at the beginning of America’s transformation into the consumer culture of today the automobile was at the forefront this conversion.
The automobile also created the need for the highway system. With more and more people owning cars and traveling on the weekends, highways make it easier to travel in shorter times. With this, people could travel to other states on a single route. So what was the original thinking behind the car? Well, to get a person and their family from point A to point B in a faster time than a horse.
Melosi, Martin V. “The Automobile Shapes the City.” Automobiles in American Life and Society. 2004-2010. Web. 26 November 2013.
The automobile industry is a pillar of global economy. Globally automotive contributes roughly 3 % of all GDP output. It historically has contributed 3.0 – 3.5 % to the overall GDP in the US. The share is even higher in the emerging markets, with the rates in china and India at 7 % and rising. China produces the highest number of automobiles followed by US and Japan (oica.net, 2015). The industry supports direct employment of 9 million people to build 60 million vehicles and parts that go into them (oica.net, 2015). Many other industries such as steel, iron, glass, aluminium, textiles etc. are associated with the automotive industry and resulting in more than 50 million jobs owed to the auto