automobiles

Throughout history ideas have sprouted and grown into inventions that we could never picture our lives without. These ideas spark changes in culture, economic status, and ultimately the way people conduct their ways of life. In primitive times this idea was the invention of hunting tools using stones, wood, and bones. As time passed and brought us to medieval times domesticating a horse for means of transportation and use during battle was ideal. Now when we examine more modern times this was the idea that sparked a global change among nations, the automobile. While the automobile sparked a growth in economic status, employment rates, and improvement in the functionality of people’s everyday lives, the invention of the automobile also takes a debilitating toll on the environment, nonrenewable resources, and the health of humans. When did the havoc of the automobile begin?

Although most people deem Henry Ford the father of automobiles, most historians agree that the birth of the modern car came about in the 19th century with some previous trial and error designs that led up to what we consider to be automobiles today. Beginning in the late 1700s, European engineers began experimenting with motor powered vehicles. Steam combustion and electric motors had all been attempted by the mid-1800s but had not yet been mastered. Surprisingly, the electric car was the most popular but a battery strong enough to move at more than a few miles per hour had not yet been invented yet. Imagine how different the world would be today if engineers had spent more time on innovating a battery for an electric car rather than creating a brand new engine with emissions which polluted the atmosphere. Automobile pioneers like Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford c...

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...sportation, petroleum products, and in how many ways they impact and shape the world in which we live. The automobile reformed American’s views on what a proper meal was by introducing fast food chain which created a rapid increase in rates of obesity. Your wealth was only worth as much as the automobile you were driving and success was defined by your car being a Ford or a Mercedes. Although the invention of the automobile created great strife throughout American history, it is all too easy to pile all of the blame on the automobile without pointing fingers back around at society. The automobile has been embraced by countless generations and will continue to be embraced as we progress into the future. Choices come with consequences. As we move into the future, coming generations will continue to deal with consequences that begun before they were even thought about.