This paper will go into detail about the young life, career and adult life of Henry Ford. Henry ford’s young life, in this paper will consist of his childhood. The paper will then describe all of his education and early jobs. Finally, this paper will conclude with Henry Ford’s adult life and home life (what he did when he wasn’t working), his career’s work and the impact Henry had on American History. This paper should help the reader better understand the life of Henry Ford: Who he was? Who he is? And why he was so vital to our American History.
Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, was the first of William and Mary Ford’s six children. He grew up on a prosperous family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry enjoyed a childhood
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Edsel also managed to prevail over his father's initial objections in the inclusion of a sliding-shift transmission. The result was the successful Ford Model A, introduced in December 1927 and produced through 1931, with a total output of more than 4 million. Subsequently, the Ford Company adopted an annual model change system similar to that recently pioneered by its competitor General Motors (and still in use by automakers today).
Ford, like other automobile companies, entered the aviation business during World War I, building Liberty engines. After the war, it returned to auto manufacturing until 1925, when Ford acquired the Stout Metal Airplane Company. Ford's most successful aircraft was the Ford 4AT Trimotor, often called the "Tin Goose" because of its corrugated metal construction. It used a new alloy called Alclad that combined the corrosion resistance of aluminum with the strength of duralumin. Ford was a pioneer of "welfare capitalism", designed to improve the lot of his workers and especially to reduce the heavy turnover that had many departments hiring 300 men per year to fill 100 slots. Efficiency meant hiring and keeping the best workers. Ford astonished the world in 1914 by offering a $5 per day wage ($120 today), which more than doubled the rate of most of his workers. The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant turnover of employees, the best mechanics
Henry Ford was born on July 30 1863, in Dearborn, Michigan, to William and Mary Ford, he had four siblings. He was bright and curious as a child so in his teens when his father gave him a pocket watch which he dismantled and reassembled by himself. He also
Other manufacturers were content to target the wealthy American could buy, not even considering the middle or lower class. Ford developed a design and a method of making the cars that steadily and continuously reduced the cost of the car, the car being the Model T. Instead of pocketing the money from the cars Ford used it to make better and more efficient ways to build a car. As a result, Ford Motor Company sold more cars and steadily increased its earnings. Henry Ford somehow managed to change people from the looking at an automobile as a luxury, and more like a convenience
Gerald Ford was born on July 14th, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska. His birth name was Leslie Lynch King Jr., after his father. Ford’s mother, Dorothy Ayer Gardner King, left King roughly two weeks after his birth. Oddly enough, Ford did not know about his biological father until he was 17. Dorothy then moved with her son to Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1916, she married a paint salesman named Gerald Rudolph Ford, who adopted her son. Leslie Lynch King Jr. was then known as Gerald Rudolph
but so they also had time to buy car” (Wikipedia 9). “There were of course people who couldn’t get the $5 day and those people were men who had working families, women, people who weren’t so poor they had to make cream chipped beef over waffles, a lazy employee, and you had to be (in his opinion) a good person” (Wikipedia 6). Now most people who worked for him would get this bonus, but that doesn’t mean that he was a good person. Henry Ford did help with the progression of these labor movements, but he had his own plans on how to use
Ford was raised on a small farm ran by his father outside of Detroit (Mitchell,1). As a child Henry was very interested in machinery. He always wanted a simpler way to do everything. “His Father would go to town and ask the children what they wanted. Henry's brother and sister would ask for candy but henry always asked for clock wheels.”
In 1896, Ford constructed his first model for a horseless carriage, the Ford Quadricycle. After attending a meeting with executives and proposing automobile ideas, Thomas Edison encouraged to build another model. Seven years later, after continuing to strive for improvement, Ford established the Ford Motor Company and his first car was assembled. Back then, only two or three cars were produced in one day, and it took the effort of groups of men. Ford wanted a more efficient production assembly, and that was when the Model T was born. Ford created the system of paying workers a steady wage to guarantee their loyalty, and moving assembly lines for mass production, which included interchangeable parts. This idea of efficiency revolutionized the American
He had his workers work less, with more breaks, and he also payed them almost twice as much as other jobs. As Eric Foner states, “Ford paid the assembly line workers $5 a day when prevailing wages were about $2.50...he also reduced working hours to 8.” With this, workers were more likely to work harder and better, which led to more productivity. The productivity was not done alone, the infrastructure of the assembly line is very critical to the production process. This was done by, as Robert Sobel states,” ...conveyor belts in the assembly line that brought parts to the workers to perform their specific task.” All this improved the production rate and it satisfied the workers. Many may say the assembly line removed individuality, however it brought faster, better, and cheaper production to the Ford Motor Company.
Ford entered into the automobile market many years ago and became the oldest car manufacturers. It is the first company which specialized in large scale manufacturing of the cars. The production of Ford cars is done in highly engineered way with the help of moving assembly lines.
The roaring twenties saw many improvements and additions at Ford. By 1919 the Model T held 40% of the domestic market (“Ford Crises of 1920-1921,” 2007). Throughout the 30s and 40s, Ford continued to set the standard for the automotive industry. The company’s first new V-8 engine was debuted in 1932. (Ford Richmond Assembly Plant - Operation during the 1930s) In 1940, while Europe and Asia had gone to war and the United States still struggled with economic depression, the Richmond Branch produced about 100 cars each day. Soon this became a Mercury assembly plant, so five models of Mercury’s including sedans, coupes, and convertibles comprised about one-quarter of Richmond's output. Sales of Ford's 1941 models were among the best ever due largely to the demand created by WWII. (Ford Richmond Assembly Plant – Ford’s Conversion to War Production)
The American economy is a vibrant, free-market system that is constantly developing out of the choices and decisions made by millions of citizens who play multiple, often overlapping roles as consumers, producers, investors and voters. The changes in the organization and performances of the manufacturing industry over the last century have helped shape the American economy. The Automotive industry perhaps made the biggest changes to their manufacturing processes. I will be reviewing the role of the industrialist Henry Ford and his innovative methods that changed the organization and performance of the American manufacturing industry forever. He produced an affordable car, paid high wages and helped create a middle
All in all the assembly line brought down the price of goods, such as the Model T, dramatically it also establish millions of new high paying jobs for Americans. For the average worker in this industry only made $1.80 a day but Ford’s workers the basic wage was $5.00 which made Ford a national hero for the working class(Schlager 594). This large pay raise is an ingenious business move because it allow his workers to make enough money to be able to afford his car. All great things do not always happen without consequence. Workers of the assembly line definitely did not have it easy since they had to keep up with the fast pace machines and boredom from doing the same mundane job every day. Supervisors often saw drop in quality as well as output so they had to find an equilibrium to be able to get the best quality possible(lerner 345). The assembly line is not a perfect system but can and will be improved for the betterment of the workers and the company as a whole. As the assembly line is
The automobile industry put American citizens into action. Mass production was a big component in the success of automobiles. Although successful, it became very repetitive. Skilled workers who were once worshipped, were no longer needed. Henry Ford was described as racist, bitter, but he brought success to citizens in the 1920s. Ford started the Ford Motor Company in 1903 with the help of a limited amount of workers in a shed. It was not until 1914 where custom-made cars turned into many cars, such as the Model T, moving down an assembly line. The Model T was a very popular car that benefitted cheap labor and easy mobility for its owners. Ford became a billionaire from the help of the federal government’s actions. At this point, the government decided that funds should be spent more on roads. Automobiles introduced
Founded in 1903, Henry Ford managed to get investor support to open the first manufacturing automobile company in Detroit, Michigan. Ford Motor Company has been known for its mass production of vehicles using a perfected assembly line method and its innovations in the automobile industry. Ford’s famous Model-T was developed as an innovative automobile that could be produced quickly, while keeping the cost to a minimum. This allowed people with a lower income the opportunity to afford an automobile. One of the biggest changes in the automobile industry occurred in 1913 with the introduction of a perfected assembly line method. This assembly line method was the one of the main reasons Ford Motor Company was able to keep the cost of vehicles and the production time to a minimum. Ford also took the first step to increase wages of their employees above the industry standard. Although it was still a very low value, Ford offered $5 per day which was a huge improvement from the $2.34 per day that most companies offered.
The son of a farmer, Henry Ford was born near Detroit, Michigan to William Ford and Mary Ligot. Since his teens Ford has always been interested in tinkering and finding out how things worked. “At the young age of 15, he dissolved and reunited the timepieces of neighbors and friends many times and gained a status of a watch repairman.”(The Famous People) Ford started to get a lot of experience through servicing and working machines. “His father wanted him to take over the family farm over the course of time but he denied telling his father that he loved the farm just because his mother was there. In 1879, Ford left home and started working as an amateur machinist in Detroit city.” (The Famous People) He denies the opportunity to seek for something better and later on, Ford would start to work for the Westinghouse Company servicing steam
A man that went by the name of Henry Ford, once said, “I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work…” The Ford Motor Company is an American continental automobile maker founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903. During the 1920s, this firm marketed automobiles that were reliable, low-cost, easy-to-operate and easier-to-fix device for the masses (Rise of the Automobile). In addition, the Ford Motor Company led the world into the expansion and refinement of the assembly line; revolutionizing our society to greater heights through its mobile products. Meanwhile, the company’s contributions benefited society through the means of the renovation of the suburbs and the invention of new services. Like no other during the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company supplied to the boom of innovations; marking its footprint to a superior society.