1 / 22

Chapter 3

Chapter 3. The Industrial Development of the United States, continued…. Review of American Industrialization. Trigger Industry: Railroads Key Industry #1: Oil Key Industry #2: Automobiles. THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. Who invented the automobile?.

bradl
Download Presentation

Chapter 3

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Chapter 3 The Industrial Development of the United States, continued…

  2. Review of American Industrialization • Trigger Industry: Railroads • Key Industry #1: Oil • Key Industry #2: Automobiles

  3. THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY • Who invented the automobile? • 1896: For developed his own automobile w/a gasoline motor, but he was using Benz’s idea.

  4. What was Henry Ford’s contribution to the American Industrialization? • Not only was Henry Ford an American automobile manufacturer, he created efficient assembly line techniques to mass produce cars.

  5. Ford Motor Company • 1903: Ford establishes the Ford Motor Company • 1908: Ford introduces the Ford “Model T” (also known as the Tin Lizzie) • Traveled at up to 70km/h • Reliable performance • Low cost

  6. The Model T • Before the Model T was built, only a small number of cars had been built, and these were only for rich people. • But Ford & the Model T created a new era of automobile ownership • First Model T cost $850 • Within the range of the average person

  7. How did Ford make the automobile affordable? • Assembly line methods • Mass production techniques

  8. Where did Ford get these ideas? • We know that mass production techniques & assembly line methods were coming into use in both the British and American industrial revolutions • But Ford got his idea in the least likely place…the horse slaughterhouse • Apparently Ford was visiting a horse slaughterhouse one day, and he saw the efficiency in their system • Horses brought in • Killed • Skinned • Butchered for meat • Each step in the process was divided => increased efficiency => increased production rate

  9. Ford speeds up the production rate • 1914: Model T is only offered in black • Other colours took too long to dry => slowed down the speed of the assembly line • Black dried the fastest • Vertical integration • Ford gained control of firms manufacturing component parts & raw materials

  10. The Results • B/se the Model T was sold at such a low price, Ford sold more than 15 million automobiles b/wn 1908 & 1927. • Ford did not change the design of the Model T => this allows him to cut the costs even more. • Why? • By 1923, Ford can sell the Model T for $260! • Ford’s ideas made the United States the number one automobile producer in the world. • By 1927: the Ford company was producing 81% of all automobiles in the world

  11. Producing Automobiles: USA v. Britain • 1927: • USA produces 81% of world’s automobiles, manufactures 3.5 million automobiles • Britain is the second largest producer, manufactures 212,000 automobiles

  12. Why is automobile manufacturing important? • Uses products of many other economies => supports other economies • Raw materials required for automobile production?

  13. Why is automobile manufacturing important? continued… • Think about the many companies that supply parts & services to car manufacturers – like the Ford Motor Company • Car manufacturers provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in North America. • With this in mind, what is the problem w/outsourcing automobile production? • Why do companies (like the Ford Motor Company) outsource?

  14. Photographs from the collection of Henry Ford

  15. High Mass Consumption • By making automobiles affordable for ordinary people, Henry Ford created an age of high mass consumption

  16. Why is automobile manufacturing important? continued… • The automobile industry helped make the USA one of the world’s leading industrial powers. • The textbook says the USA still holds this position, but it was published in 1990, so I would say countries like Japan and China have overtaken the American automobile industry by now.

  17. Labour troubles, 1914 • Early January, 1914: threats of labour troubles – factory workers are tired of the long days and little pay • Auto workers experience strain from assembly-line methods • Stop going to work in Ford’s factories • High turnover (Ford must hire 40,000 workers/year in order to keep 10,000 on the job) • Our textbook makes Ford sound like a revolutionary man when he introduces changes to the factory workers’ day on January 5, 1914. But in reality, he had no choice – he was facing a complete shut down of his factories.

  18. Ford if forced to change: A New Day in the Life of a Factory Worker • January 5, 1914: Ford changes the day of a factory worker

  19. Were Ford’s changes as good as they sounded? • Thousands of people rush to accept Ford’s “changes.” • But they find that Ford will pay only $2.60/day, plus a $2.40/day bonus if the worker remains at his automobile plants for 1 year. • All workers were required to do the following: • No smoking • No drinking • Must learn English • Become US citizens • Open bank accounts Relates to USA population growth at this time • Were these demands unreasonable?

  20. Industrial Relations • Ford’s news made the headlines in every major newspaper b/se the changes were so revolutionary for the time. • Think back to Britain’s working conditions… • Began an era of industrial relations & made automobile workers one of the highest paid groups in the American economy.

  21. The “Ford Idea” • Despite the fact that Ford was forced to make changes to his workers’ day, he was credited with making a revolutionary change. • Soon other industries implemented the so-called “Ford Idea.” • Result: consumer spending began to increase • Higher wages => greater purchasing power => increased sale of Ford automobiles

  22. Philanthropist & Pacifist • Henry Ford was both a philanthropist & a pacifist. • Ford did not want US to get involved in the world war, but nevertheless changed production in his factories to support the war movement • Claimed his automobile plan produced a bomber an hour • Ford & Edsel (his son) established the Ford Foundation to donate money to poverty, human rights & justice, education, culture, international affairs, & population issues

More Related