Abstract Legacy
"Young man, I invented the modern age," -Henry Ford.
Henry Ford’s greatest impact on America was that he truly ushered in a new modern age. Through practicing his revolutionary business management techniques, which put emphasis on mass production and efficiency, Ford led to the growth many industries, such as steel, glass, rubber, and petroleum. Ford pioneered the expansion of mass markets for many industrial goods. Increased demand for the production of industrial goods created more jobs for industrial workers which in turn led to urban expansion, increased immigration, and the creation of a larger middle class. Ford’s great success in creating a vehicle that the average man could afford launched a cycle of mass production and mass consumption in America. The assembly line became a common aspect of industrial production and its popular use led to the shift from mainly skilled workers creating goods to many unskilled assembly line workers performing simple tasks to mass produce goods. As expanding industrials markets required more workers to produce the goods in demand, men and women from both rural American lands and overseas were lured into industrial cities to work high wage, low skilled factory jobs. The new industrial jobs also contributed to the growth of the middle class in American society.
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“The Ford car [the Model T] blazed the way for the motor industry and started the movement for good roads. It broke down barriers of time and distance and helped to place education within the reach of all. It gave people more leisure. It helped everyone to do more and better work in less time and enjoy doing it. It did a great deal, I am sure, to promote the growth and progress of the country.” -Henry Ford |