Even Barack Obama owns an automobile.
Almost someone in everyone’s family as of 2013 owns and drives an automobile.
Automobiles have affected the lives of the American people more than we would
ever have imagined. From pollution, gas use, industry, and to roads and car
accidents, Henry Ford truly changed the face of America.
Henry Ford
is a huge contributor to the automobile industry. Not only is he the founder of
Ford Motor Company, he is a sponsor of the assembly line technique of mass production.
Although Ford did not invent the automobile, he developed and manufactured the
first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy. Ford’s
introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized American society.
Since the impact of automobiles first
hit America environmental damages have sky rocketed. Historian Mark Foster
stated, “One-third of the pollution
caused by automobiles occurred before they were sold and driven”. Automobiles use a limited amount of resources
and have serious environmental repercussions. Foster citied a study that
estimated that fabricating one car
produced 29 tons of waste and 1,207 million cubic yards of polluted air. Vehicle
assembly plants themselves are major polluters. It is not clear what the main
problem of environmental pollution is but automobiles will forever be the
blame.
Another effect automobiles have had
on the American people is the need for more gas. The use of gas has gone out
the roof since the production of automobiles. As more and more people continued
and continue to buy automobiles the demand for gas rapidly raises. Gas in
American society, since the productions of automobiles is a most. Because of gas junkies the amount of American
gas in the U.S. is being ran through and is limited. Due to this, gas prices constantly
rise and take more money out of the pockets of the American people. This only hurts the
economy and feeds bosses of the oil industry.
Henry Ford’s
contribution to mass production highly influenced the automobile industry. Due
to mas production automobiles could be assembled and sold at a faster pace. During the 1920s automobile registration
rose from eight million to twenty-three million. Almost every middle class
American owned his or her own automobile. This was also because cars weren’t
that expensive back then over the years many people tried to join the industry
with hopes of getting rich. The automobile industry was one of the fastest growing
industries in the 1920s. Almost 500,000
workers were employed in the automobile industry in the 1920 By 1925 Ford was
producing a car every ten seconds. Ford’s new T-Model at the time was about
$290.
More and more roads were constructed over
the 1920s. Roads were built so that millions of people with newly purchased automobiles
could travel faster. Many roads at the time were dirt roads. An act was passed
called the highway act in the 1956, which also vastly impacted the automobile
industry. President Dwight D. Eisenhower passed this act to provide more jobs
for working people. These superhighways became very popular fast and are still
being built today.
Car
accidents increased dramatically as a result of the mass production of
automobiles. In the mid 1920s an average
of ten people a day were involved in car accidents in Harlem, New York. The more automobiles produced the more car
accidents occurred. Over the years more and more car accident continued to
happened. People in the 1920s were not the best drivers and many were reckless.
Some drivers could barely see over the steering wheel because they were so
young. The drivers’ license was invented in 1915 when a child driving a motor
vehicle hit a man. The Supreme Court did
not pass driver’s license until 1923. Although you have to past many test
to get your drivers’ license today. More accidents actually occur in today’s
America. This is also due to the large amount of motor vehicles on road today.
To conclude
the automobile had an enormous effect on the American people. As a result of
Henry Ford’s mass production the number of American people with automobiles
nearly tripled. Pollution problems surfaced as well as a result of the mass
production of automobiles. The use of gas became a must and the demand grew
even higher. 500,000 workers were employed in the automobile industry and more
jobs were created. More roads were constructed which also provide more jobs for
Americans. Super highways were built and granted access so that the American
people could travel further distances. Car accidents occurred more and more over
the years. The drivers’ license was invented in 1923. This was due to scary
increasing amount of car accidents that
continued to occur. The automobiles effect on
American society will never be forgotten.