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145-553: Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist and business magnate . As the founder of the Ford Motor Company , he is credited as a pioneer in making automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans through the system that came to be known as Fordism . In 1911, he was awarded a patent for the transmission mechanism that would be used in the Ford Model T and other automobiles. Ford

290-526: A collective bargaining agreement with the unions because the violence, work disruptions, and bitter stalemates could not go on forever. But Ford, who still had the final veto in the company on a de facto basis even if not an official one, refused to cooperate. For several years, he kept Bennett in charge of talking to the unions trying to organize the Ford Motor Company. Sorensen's memoir makes clear that Ford's purpose in putting Bennett in charge

435-454: A franchise system, which allowed for car dealerships throughout North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford was known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I , although during the war his company became a major supplier of weapons. He promoted the League of Nations . In the 1920s Ford promoted antisemitism through his newspaper The Dearborn Independent and

580-486: A pocket watch when he was 12. At 15, Ford dismantled and reassembled the timepieces of friends and neighbors dozens of times, gaining the reputation of a watch repairman. At twenty, Ford walked four miles to their Episcopal church every Sunday. Ford said two significant events occurred in 1875 when he was 12: he received the watch, and he witnessed the operation of a Nichols and Shepard road engine, "...the first vehicle other than horse-drawn that I had ever seen". Ford

725-644: A sawmill . They had one child, Edsel Ford (1893–1943). In 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit . After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to devote attention to his experiments on gasoline engines . These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle, which he named the Ford Quadricycle . He test-drove it on June 4. After various test drives, Ford brainstormed ways to improve

870-589: A $ 5 daily wage ($ 152 in 2023), which more than doubled the rate of most of his workers. A Cleveland, Ohio , newspaper editorialized that the announcement "shot like a blinding rocket through the dark clouds of the present industrial depression". The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant employee turnover, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing their human capital and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs. Ford announced his $ 5-per-day program on January 5, 1914, raising

1015-556: A 48-hour week, but in 1926 it was announced as five 8-hour days, giving a 40-hour week. The program apparently started with Saturday being designated a workday, before becoming a day off sometime later. On May 1, 1926, the Ford Motor Company's factory workers switched to a five-day, 40-hour workweek, with the company's office workers making the transition the following August. Ford had decided to boost productivity, as workers were expected to put more effort into their work in exchange for more leisure time. Ford also believed decent leisure time

1160-537: A Detroit-area coal dealer. They formed a partnership, Ford & Malcomson, Limited, to manufacture automobiles. Ford went to work designing an inexpensive automobile, and the duo leased a factory and contracted with a machine shop owned by John and Horace E. Dodge to supply over $ 160,000 in parts. Sales were slow, and a crisis arose when the Dodge brothers demanded payment for their first shipment. In response, Malcomson brought in another group of investors and convinced

1305-494: A bombshell with the flathead Ford V8 , the first low-price eight-cylinder engine. The flathead V8, variants of which were used in Ford vehicles for 20 years, was the result of a secret project launched in 1930 and Henry had initially considered a radical X-8 engine before agreeing to a conventional design. It gave Ford a reputation as a performance make well-suited for hot-rodding. Ford did not believe in accountants; he amassed one of

1450-886: A business outlook and high status. Most craftsmen were laboring artisans who either operated small shops or, more often, did piecework for the merchant artisans. The small market meant there was no steady or well-paid employment; many lived in constant debt. Colonial silver working was pre-industrial in many ways: many pieces made were "bespoke," or uniquely made for each customer, and emphasized artistry as well as functionality. Silver (and other metal) mines were scarcer in North America than in Europe, and colonial craftsmen had no consistent source of materials with which to work. For each piece of silver they crafted, raw materials had to be collected and often reused from disparate sources, most commonly Spanish coins . The purity of these sources

1595-522: A claim to being the first railroad in the United States , but by the mid-1830s several companies were using steam-powered locomotives to move train cars on rail tracks . Between 1840 and 1860, the total length of railroad trackage increased from 3,326 to 30,600 miles (5,350 to 49,250 km). The efficiency of railroad to move large, bulk items contributed enabled further drops in cost of transporting goods to market but in so doing undermined

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1740-522: A commercial device to help their business. Sales skyrocketed—several years posted 100% gains on the previous year. In 1913, Ford introduced moving assembly belts into his plants, which enabled an enormous increase in production. Although Ford is often credited with the idea, contemporary sources indicate that the concept and development came from employees Clarence Avery , Peter E. Martin , Charles E. Sorensen , and C. Harold Wills . (See Ford Piquette Avenue Plant .) Sales passed 250,000 in 1914. By 1916, as

1885-538: A consultant; Ford, in response, left the company bearing his name. With Ford gone, Leland renamed the company the Cadillac Automobile Company . Teaming up with former racing cyclist Tom Cooper , Ford also produced the 80+ horsepower racer " 999 ," which Barney Oldfield was to drive to victory in a race in October 1902. Ford received the backing of an old acquaintance, Alexander Y. Malcomson ,

2030-606: A focus on business efficiency would discourage warfare because, "If every man who manufactures an article would make the very best he can in the very best way at the very lowest possible price the world would be kept out of war, for commercialists would not have to search for outside markets which the other fellow covets." Ford admitted that munitions makers enjoyed wars, but he argued that most businesses wanted to avoid wars and instead work to manufacture and sell useful goods, hire workers, and generate steady long-term profits. Ford's British factories produced Fordson tractors to increase

2175-468: A government contract that could be made with "expedition, uniformity, and exactness"—the foundational ideas for interchangeable parts . However, Whitney's vision of interchangeable parts would not be achieved for over two decades with firearms and even longer for other devices. Between 1800 and 1820, new industrial tools that rapidly increased the quality and efficiency of manufacturing emerged. Simeon North suggested using division of labor to increase

2320-804: A knowledge of textile machinery. With the help of Moses Brown of Providence , Slater established America's oldest currently existing cotton-spinning mill with a fully mechanized water power system at the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1793. Hoping to harness the ample power of the Merrimack River , another group of investors began building the Middlesex Canal up the Mystic River , both Mystic Lakes and generally following stream valleys (near to today's MA 38 ) reached

2465-567: A large variety of shapes, and whose use in the workflow depends on the part to be machined. CNC machines are becoming the standard due to their speed, precision, flexibility, repeatability, and reduced downtime while changing jobs. Production runs consisting of large numbers of parts are more cost effective and commonly referred to as production work in the trade. Conversely, small production runs are sometimes referred to as prototype or jobbing work. Production engineers use blueprints and engineering drawings to produce detailed specifications of

2610-501: A massive new assembly plant at River Rouge for the new Model A, which launched in 1927. In addition to its price ladder, GM also quickly established itself at the forefront of automotive styling under Harley Earl 's Arts & Color Department, another area of automobile design that Henry Ford did not entirely appreciate or understand. Ford would not have a true equivalent of the GM styling department for many years. By 1926, flagging sales of

2755-798: A means to foster employment, but Ford saw this as self-defeating because, in his view, productivity was necessary for economic prosperity to exist. He believed that productivity gains that obviated certain jobs would nevertheless stimulate the broader economy and grow new jobs elsewhere, whether within the same corporation or in others. Ford also believed that union leaders had a perverse incentive to foment perpetual socio-economic crises to maintain their power. Meanwhile, he believed that smart managers had an incentive to do right by their workers, because doing so would maximize their profits. However, Ford did acknowledge that many managers were basically too bad at managing to understand this fact. But Ford believed that eventually, if good managers such as he, could fend off

2900-421: A mid-range make to challenge Dodge and Buick, although Henry also displayed relatively little enthusiasm for it. 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

3045-426: A saw cut length of stock or a casting . Producing a part will often require several steps and more than one machine tool. Each machine tool plays a specific role in cutting away excess material. When large numbers of parts are needed, production planning is required to plan the most logical workflow through a series of machines. Computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines are computer-driven tools that can machine

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3190-787: A sculpted object was carved out of wax, an investment casting was made, and the wax was melted away. The molds produced in this manner could only be used once, which made them inconvenient for standard objects like handles and buckles. Permanent mold casting , an industrial casting technique focused on high-volume production, allowed smiths to reuse molds to make exact replicas of the most commonly used items they sold. In creating these molds and developing standardized manufacturing processes, silversmiths could begin delegating some work to apprentices and journeymen . After 1780, Paul Revere 's sons took on more significant roles in his shop, and his silver pieces often included wooden handles made by carpenters more experienced with woodwork. For even some of

3335-416: A six-inch stroke, which was connected to a countershaft by a belt and then to the rear wheel by a chain. The belt was shifted by a clutch lever to control speeds at 10 or 20 miles per hour , augmented by a throttle . Other features included 28-inch wire bicycle wheels with rubber tires , a foot brake, a 3-gallon gasoline tank, and later, a water jacket around the cylinders for cooling. Ford added that "in

3480-491: A textile industry were largely provided by Samuel Slater (1768–1835) who emigrated to New England in 1789. He had studied and worked in British textile mills for a number of years and immigrated to the United States, despite restrictions against it, to try his luck with U.S. manufacturers who were trying to set up a textile industry. He was offered a full partnership if he could succeed—he did. A vast supply of natural resources,

3625-491: A thousandth of an inch – or 0.0025 mm) for specialty operations. A machinist deals with all facets of shaping, cutting and some aspects of forming metal, although forming is typically a separate trade. The operations most commonly performed by machinists are milling , drilling , turning , and grinding . There are other more specialized operations that a machinist will less frequently be called upon to perform such as honing , keyseating , lapping , and polishing , to name

3770-421: A well-developed mechanical aptitude, the ability to correctly use precision measuring instruments and to interpret blueprints, and a working knowledge of the proper parameters required for successfully utilizing the various tools commonly used in machining operations. CNC (computer numerical control) is the modern manufacturing method in which machinist use a form of programming called G-code to make components for

3915-414: A wide variety of industries. CNC programming is a highly skilled position. Programmers are usually machinist as well. A CNC programmer creates programs using software called CAM (computer aided manufacturing). The programmer must be proficient in math, speeds and feeds, machine tooling, work holding, and the different ways various materials react to stress and heat in the machining process. The machine trade

4060-438: Is an example of proto-industrialization . In the mid-1780s, Oliver Evans invented an automated flour mill that included a grain elevator and hopper boy . Evans' design eventually displaced the traditional gristmills . By the turn of the century, Evans also developed one of the first high-pressure steam engines and began establishing a network of machine workshops to manufacture and repair these popular inventions. In 1789,

4205-595: Is an extremely broad field with a wide variety of workplaces, job duties, and types of work. Most machinists work in machine shops and factories where they operate machinery that produce precision component parts. In general, the occupation is exacting, and requires extensive knowledge of the tools and processes in order to achieve the tight tolerances and surface finishes that these parts specify. Many machinists make mass-produced parts using highly automated computer numerical control machines which are common today, but still require such professionals to set up and calibrate

4350-530: Is one who is called on to fix a problem with a part or to create a new one using metals, plastics, or rarely, wood. Depending on the company, a machinist can be any or all of the titles listed above. Other related fields include Millwrights , quality assurance , and mechanical engineers . In Australia, a related profession is a fitter and turner . A fitter and turner is the tradesperson who fits, assembles, grinds and shapes metal parts and subassemblies to fabricate production machines and other equipment. Under

4495-569: The American Civil War was marked by increasing intense and pervasive industrialization and successive technological advances like the railroad , telegraph & telephone , and internal combustion engine . This facilitated America's westward expansion and economic development by connecting the frontier with the industrial, financial, and political centers of the East. Americans increasingly relied upon technological infrastructures like

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4640-581: The Bering land bridge . These first Native Americans relied upon chipped-stone spearheads , rudimentary harpoons , and boats clad in animal hides for hunting in the Arctic . As they dispersed within the continent, they encountered the varied temperate climates in the Pacific northwest, central plains, Appalachian woodlands, and arid Southwest, where they began to make permanent settlements. The peoples living in

4785-472: The Commerce Clause which compelled the state of New York to allow steamboat services from other states. Because the physics and metallurgy of boilers were poorly understood, steamboats were prone to boiler explosions that killed hundreds of people between the 1810s and 1840s. In 1838, legislation was enacted that mandated boiler inspections by federal agents under the threat of revocation of

4930-691: The Ford Foundation , and control of the company to his family. Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan . His father, William Ford (1826–1905), was born in County Cork , Ireland, to a family that had emigrated from Somerset , England in the 16th century. His mother, Mary Ford (née Litogot; 1839–1876), was born in Michigan as the youngest child of Belgian immigrants; her parents died when she

5075-971: The Great Depression challenged its technological momentum , America emerged from it and World War II as one of two global superpowers . In the second half of the 20th century, as the United States was drawn into competition with the Soviet Union for political, economic, and military primacy , the government invested heavily in scientific research and technological development which spawned advances in spaceflight , computing , and biotechnology . Science, technology, and industry have not only profoundly shaped America's economic success, but have also contributed to its distinct political institutions, social structure, educational system, and cultural identity. North America has been inhabited continuously since approximately 4,000 BC. The earliest inhabitants were nomadic , big-game hunter-gatherers who crossed

5220-675: The Great Depression , unemployed Detroit auto workers staged the Ford Hunger March to the Ford River Rouge Complex to present 14 demands to Henry Ford. The Dearborn police department and Ford security guards opened fire on workers leading to over sixty injuries and five deaths. On May 26, 1937, Bennett's security men beat members of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), including Walter Reuther , with clubs. While Bennett's men were beating

5365-590: The Morris Canal across northern New Jersey (1824–1924) soon followed, along with the Illinois and Michigan Canal from Chicago to the Illinois River (1824–1848). Like the turnpikes, the early canals were constructed, owned, and operated by private joint-stock companies but later gave way to larger projects funded by the states. The Erie Canal , proposed by Governor of New York De Witt Clinton ,

5510-614: The National Road began in 1815 in Cumberland, Maryland and reached Wheeling, Virginia in 1818, but political strife thereafter ultimately prevented its western advance to the Mississippi River . Nevertheless, the road became a primary overland conduit through Appalachian Mountains and was the gateway for thousands of antebellum westward-bound settlers. Numerous canal companies had also been chartered; but of all

5655-595: The Panic of 1819 , the question of internal improvements again forged to the front. In 1822, a bill to authorize the collection of tolls on the Cumberland Road had been vetoed by President James Monroe . In an elaborate essay, Monroe set forth his views on the constitutional aspects of a policy of internal improvements. Congress might appropriate money, he admitted, but it might not undertake the actual construction of national works nor assume jurisdiction over them. For

5800-758: The Penn Central railroad declared bankruptcy , the largest bankruptcy in the US at that time. In response Congress created a government corporation, Amtrak , to take over operation of the passenger lines of Penn Central and other railroads, under the Rail Passenger Service Act . Amtrak began inter-city rail operations in 1971. In 1980 Congress enacted the Staggers Rail Act to revive freight traffic , by removing restrictive regulations and enabling railroads to be more competitive with

5945-562: The Post–World War II economic expansion many railroads were driven out of business due to competition from airlines and Interstate highways . The rise of the automobile led to the end of passenger train service on most railroads. Trucking businesses had become major competitors by the 1930s with the advent of improved paved roads, and after the war they expanded their operations as the interstate highway network grew, and acquired increased market share of freight business. In 1970

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6090-566: The United States House of Representatives recorded its conviction, by close votes, that Congress could appropriate money to construct roads and canals, but had not the power to construct them. As yet the only direct aid of the national government to internal improvements consisted of various appropriations, amounting to about $ 1,500,000 for the Cumberland Road . As the country recovered from financial depression following

6235-1000: The airplane , internet , microchip , laser , cellphone , refrigerator , email , microwave , personal computer , liquid-crystal display and light-emitting diode technology, air conditioning , assembly line , supermarket , bar code , and automated teller machine . The early technological and industrial development in the United States was facilitated by a unique confluence of geographical, social, and economic factors. The relative lack of workers kept U.S. wages generally higher than salaries in Europe and provided an incentive to mechanize some tasks. The United States population had some semi-unique advantages in that they were former British subjects , had high English literacy skills, for that period, including over 80% in New England , had stable institutions, with some minor American modifications, of courts, laws, right to vote, protection of property rights and in many cases personal contacts with

6380-471: The eastern woodlands and Mississippian Valley developed extensive trade networks, built pyramid-like mounds , and practiced substantial agriculture while the peoples living in the Appalachian Mountains and coastal Atlantic practiced highly sustainable forest agriculture and were expert woodworkers. However, the populations of these peoples were small and their rate of technological change

6525-526: The $ 5-day wage. Real profit-sharing was offered to employees who had worked at the company for six months or more, and, importantly, conducted their lives in a manner of which Ford's "Social Department" approved. They frowned on heavy drinking, gambling, and on what are now called deadbeat dads . The Social Department used 50 investigators and support staff to maintain employee standards; a large percentage of workers were able to qualify for this "profit-sharing". Ford's incursion into his employees' private lives

6670-549: The 1820s by a more efficient system (the " Waltham System ") based upon Francis Cabot Lowell 's replications of British power looms . Slater went on to build several more cotton and wool mills throughout New England , but when faced with a labor shortage, resorted to building housing, shops, and churches for the workers and their families adjacent to his factories. The first power looms for woolens were installed in 1820, at Uxbridge, Massachusetts , by John Capron , of Cumberland, Rhode Island . These added automated weaving under

6815-574: The Atlantic tidal rivers and Chesapeake Bay . The shallow-bottomed boats were also ideally suited for navigating the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the number of boats on these rivers increased from 17 boats to 727 boats between 1817 and 1855. The speed of the steamboats decreased travel times between coastal ports and upstream cities by weeks and costs for transporting goods along these rivers by as much as 90%. Steamboats profoundly altered

6960-528: The British food supply, as well as trucks and warplane engines. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Ford went quiet on foreign policy. His company became a major supplier of weapons, especially the Liberty engine for warplanes and anti-submarine boats . Technological and industrial history of the United States The technological and industrial history of the United States describes

7105-495: The British government which forbade their export or the emigration of those who were familiar with the technology. The 1787 Beverly Cotton Manufactory was the first cotton mill in the United States, but it relied on horse power. Samuel Slater , an apprentice in one of the largest textile factories in England, immigrated to the United States in 1789 upon learning that American states were paying bounties to British expatriates with

7250-535: The British innovators of the Industrial Revolution . They had a good basic structure to build on. Another major advantage enjoyed by the United States was the absence of an aristocracy or gentry. The eastern seaboard of the United States , with a great number of rivers and streams along the Atlantic seaboard, provided many potential sites for constructing textile mills necessary for early industrialization. The technology and information on how to build

7395-558: The Constitution. Adams seemed oblivious to the limitations of the Constitution. In much alarm, Jefferson suggested to Madison the desirability of having Virginia adopt a new set of resolutions, bottomed on those of 1798, and directed against the acts for internal improvements. In March 1826, the Virginia General Assembly declared that all the principles of the earlier resolutions applied "with full force against

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7540-418: The Dodge brothers to accept a portion of the new company. Ford & Malcomson was reincorporated as the Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903, with $ 28,000 capital. The original investors included Ford and Malcomson, the Dodge brothers, Malcomson's uncle John S. Gray , Malcolmson's secretary James Couzens , and two of Malcomson's lawyers, John W. Anderson and Horace Rackham . Because of Ford's volatility, Gray

7685-522: The Ford Model T automobile in 1908 is credited with having revolutionized both transportation and American industry. As the sole owner of the Ford Motor Company, Ford became one of the wealthiest persons in the world. He was also among the pioneers of the five-day work-week . Ford believed that consumerism could help to bring about world peace . His commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including

7830-608: 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). Not until the 1930s did Ford overcome his objection to finance companies, and the Ford-owned Universal Credit Corporation became a major car-financing operation. Henry Ford still resisted many technological innovations such as hydraulic brakes and all-metal roofs, which Ford vehicles did not adopt until 1935–1936. For 1932 however, Ford dropped

7975-516: The Merrimack in Chelmsford 35 miles (56 km) from Boston Harbor , establishing limited operations by 1808, and a system of navigations and canals reaching past Manchester by mid-1814—and spawning commercial activities, and especially new clothing mills throughout the region. At nearly the same time as the canal was completed, Francis Cabot Lowell and a consortium of businessmen set up

8120-467: The Model T finally convinced Ford to make a new model. He pursued the project with a great deal of interest in the design of the engine, chassis, and other mechanical necessities, while leaving the body design to his son. Although Ford fancied himself an engineering genius, he had little formal training in mechanical engineering and could not even read a blueprint. A talented team of engineers performed most of

8265-599: The Netherlands to meet with peace activists. A target of much ridicule, Ford left the ship as soon as it reached Sweden. In 1915, Ford blamed "German-Jewish bankers" for instigating the war. According to biographer Steven Watts, Ford's status as a leading industrialist gave him a worldview that warfare was wasteful folly that retarded long-term economic growth. The losing side in the war typically suffered heavy damage. Small business were especially hurt, for it takes years to recuperate. He argued in many newspaper articles that

8410-510: The Pacific northwest built wooden houses, used nets and weirs to catch fish, and practiced food preservation to ensure longevity of their food sources, since substantial agriculture was not developed. Peoples living on the plains remained largely nomadic; some practiced agriculture for parts of the year and became adept leather workers as they hunted buffalo while people living in the arid southwest built adobe buildings, fired pottery , domesticated cotton , and wove cloth . Tribes in

8555-644: The Quadricycle. Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, where he was introduced to Thomas Edison . Edison approved of Ford's automobile experimentation. Encouraged by Edison, Ford designed and built a second vehicle, completing it in 1898. Backed by the capital of Detroit lumber baron William H. Murphy, Ford resigned from the Edison Company and founded the Detroit Automobile Company on August 5, 1899. However,

8700-636: The Treasury Albert Gallatin 's Report on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals suggested that the federal government should fund the construction of interstate turnpikes and canals . While many Anti-Federalists opposed the federal government assuming such a role, the British blockade in the War of 1812 demonstrated the United States' reliance upon these overland roads for military operations as well as for general commerce. Construction on

8845-545: The U.S. and the American system of manufacturing in England. The textile industry , which had previously relied upon labor-intensive production methods, was also rife with potential for mechanization. In the late 18th century, the English textile industry had adopted the spinning jenny , water frame , and spinning mule which greatly improved the efficiency and quality of textile manufacture, but were closely guarded by

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8990-517: The UAW representatives, the supervising police chief on the scene was Carl Brooks, an alumnus of Bennett's Service Department, and Brooks "did not give orders to intervene".The following day photographs of the injured UAW members appeared in newspapers, later becoming known as The Battle of the Overpass . In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Edsel—who was president of the company—thought Ford had to come to

9135-435: The United States, all of it owned or controlled by seven organizations. The need to synchronize train schedules and the inefficiencies introduced by every city having its own local time, also led to introduction of Standard time by railway managers in 1883. Railroads began using diesel locomotives in the 1930s, and they completely replaced steam locomotives by the 1950s, which reduced costs and improved reliability. During

9280-607: The United States. Coal was one of the earliest, mainly mined in the eastern states, and when combined with iron ore led to the growth of the Steel industry. Gold and silver mining was a significant contributor to the rapid expansion of the western states in the 19thl. century. Copper mining began in the 1840s, and the United States is the fourth largest copper producer in the World. Role of industry & technology in causes, conduct & operations, reconstruction The period after

9425-469: The actual work of designing the Model A (and later the flathead V8) with Ford supervising them closely and giving them overall direction. Edsel also managed to prevail over his father's initial objections in the inclusion of a sliding-shift transmission. The result was the Ford Model A , introduced in December 1927 and produced through 1931, with a total output of more than four million. Subsequently,

9570-544: The attacks of misguided people from both left and right (i.e., both socialists and bad-manager reactionaries), the good managers would create a socio-economic system wherein neither bad management nor bad unions could find enough support to continue existing. To forestall union activity, Ford promoted Harry Bennett , a former Navy boxer, to head the Service Department. Bennett employed various intimidation tactics to quash union organizing. On March 7, 1932, during

9715-512: The attention of his hearers to provisions made for coast surveys and lighthouses on the Atlantic seaboard and deplored the neglect of the interior of the country. Among the other presidential candidates, Andrew Jackson voted in the United States Senate for the general survey bill; and John Quincy Adams left no doubt in the public mind that he did not reflect the narrow views of his section on this issue. William H. Crawford felt

9860-758: The automobiles produced were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted. Ultimately, the company was not successful and was dissolved in January 1901. With the help of C. Harold Wills , Ford designed, built, and successfully raced a 26- horsepower automobile in October 1901. With this success, Murphy and other stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the Henry Ford Company on November 30, 1901, with Ford as chief engineer. In 1902, Murphy brought in Henry M. Leland as

10005-601: 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

10150-525: The book The International Jew . He opposed his country's entry into World War II , and served for a time on board of the America First Committee . After his son Edsel died in 1943, Ford resumed control of the company, but was too frail to make decisions and quickly came under the control of several of his subordinates. He turned over the company to his grandson Henry Ford II in 1945. Upon his death in 1947, he left most of his wealth to

10295-426: The brink of bankruptcy . The magnitude of the transportation problem was such, however, that neither individual states nor private corporations seemed able to meet the demands of an expanding internal trade. As early as 1807, Albert Gallatin had advocated the construction of a great system of internal waterways to connect East and West, at an estimated cost of $ 20,000,000 ($ 416,181,818 in 2023 consumer dollars). But

10440-431: The broad workable plan of investment and participation will do more to solidify the industry and strengthen the organization than will any social work on the outside. Without changing the principle we have changed the method of payment." In addition to raising his workers' wages, Ford also introduced a new, reduced workweek in 1926. The decision was made in 1922, when Ford and Crowther described it as six 8-hour days, giving

10585-789: The canals projected, only three had been completed when the War of 1812 began: the Dismal Swamp Canal in Virginia, the Santee Canal in South Carolina, and the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts. It remained for New York to usher in a new era in internal communication by authorizing in 1817 the construction of the Erie Canal . This bold bid for Western trade alarmed the merchants of Philadelphia, particularly as

10730-610: The clothing mills in Waltham, Massachusetts making use of water power from the Charles River with the concept of housing together production of feedstocks complete consumer processes so raw materials entered, and dyed fabrics or clothing left. For a few decades, it seemed that every lock along the canal had mills and water wheels. In 1821, Boston Manufacturing Company built a major expansion in East Chelmsford, which

10875-421: The company rather than cooperate. Still, his wife Clara told him she would leave him if he destroyed the family business. In her view, it would not be worth the chaos it would create. Ford complied with his wife's ultimatum and even agreed with her in retrospect. Overnight, the Ford Motor Company went from the most stubborn holdout among automakers to the one with the most favorable UAW contract terms. The contract

11020-550: The completion of the national road threatened to divert much of their traffic to Baltimore. In 1825, the Pennsylvania General Assembly grappled with the problem by projecting a series of canals which were to connect its great seaport with Pittsburgh on the west and with Lake Erie and the upper Susquehanna on the north. The Blackstone Canal , (1823–1828) in Rhode Island and Massachusetts , and

11165-558: The constitutional scruples which were everywhere being voiced in the South, and followed the old expedient of advocating a constitutional amendment to sanction national internal improvements. In President Adams' first message to Congress, he advocated not only the construction of roads and canals but also the establishment of observatories and a national university. President Thomas Jefferson had recommended many of these in 1806 for Congress to consider for creation of necessary amendments to

11310-507: The country, making the Ford brand known throughout the United States. Ford also was one of the early backers of the Indianapolis 500 . In 1909, Ford submitted for patent application for his invention for a new transmission mechanism. It was awarded a patent in 1911. The Model T debuted on October 1, 1908. It had the steering wheel on the left, which every other company soon copied. The entire engine and transmission were enclosed;

11455-440: The decisions of his son. Ford started another company, Henry Ford and Son, and made a show of taking himself and his best employees to the new company; the goal was to scare the remaining holdout stockholders of the Ford Motor Company to sell their stakes to him before they lost most of their value. (He was determined to have full control over strategic decisions.) The ruse worked, and Henry and Edsel purchased all remaining stock from

11600-418: The effect of stimulating a period of intense consolidation and technological standardization that would last another 50 years. It was during this time that railroad magnates such as Jay Gould and Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed great power and fortunes from consolidation of smaller rail lines into national corporations. By 1920, 254,000 miles (408,800 km) of standard-gauge railroad track had been laid in

11745-595: The embargo and the British blockade in the War of 1812 (1807–15), entrepreneurs opened factories in the Northeastern United States that set the stage for rapid industrialization modeled on British innovations. From its emergence as an independent nation, the United States has encouraged science and innovation. As a result, the United States has been the birthplace of 161 of Encyclopædia Britannica ' s 321 Greatest Inventions, including items such as

11890-494: The emergence of the United States as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. The availability of land and literate labor, the absence of a landed aristocracy, the prestige of entrepreneurship, the diversity of climate and large easily accessed upscale and literate markets all contributed to America's rapid industrialization . The availability of capital, development by

12035-513: The end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, the new government continued the strong property rights established under British rule and established a rule of law necessary to protect those property rights. The idea of issuing patents was incorporated into Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution authorizing Congress "to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors

12180-497: The exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." The invention of the cotton gin by American inventor Eli Whitney , combined with the widespread prevalence of slavery in the United States and U.S. settler expansion made cotton potentially a cheap and readily available resource for use in the new textile industry. One of the real impetuses for the United States entering the Industrial Revolution

12325-427: The expense of trolley wires , and "no storage battery was in sight of a weight that was practical." In 1885, Ford repaired an Otto engine , and in 1887 he built a four-cycle model with a one-inch bore and a three-inch stroke . In 1890, Ford started work on a two-cylinder engine. Ford said, "In 1892, I completed my first motor car, powered by a two-cylinder four horsepower motor, with a two-and-half-inch bore and

12470-493: The experiences of the war before him, no well-informed statesman could shut his eyes to the national aspects of the problem. Even President James Madison invited the attention of Congress to the need of establishing "a comprehensive system of roads and canals". Soon after Congress met, it took under consideration a bill drafted by John C. Calhoun which proposed an appropriation of $ 1,500,000 ($ 26,929,412 in 2023 consumer dollars) for internal improvements. Because this appropriation

12615-475: The family farm, where he became adept at operating the Westinghouse portable steam engine . He was later hired by Westinghouse to service their steam engines. In his farm workshop, Ford built a "steam wagon or tractor" and a steam car, but thought "steam was not suitable for light vehicles," as "the boiler was dangerous." Ford also said that he "did not see the use of experimenting with electricity, due to

12760-444: The four cylinders were cast in a solid block; the suspension used two semi-elliptic springs. The car was simple to drive, and easy and inexpensive to repair. It was so inexpensive at $ 825 in 1908 ($ 27,980 today), with the price falling every year, that by the 1920s, a majority of American drivers had learned to drive on the Model T. Ford created a huge publicity machine in Detroit to ensure every newspaper carried stories and ads about

12905-596: The free market of navigable rivers and coastal waterways, as well as the abundance of natural resources facilitated the cheap extraction of energy all contributed to America's rapid industrialization. Fast transport by the first transcontinental railroad built in the mid-19th century, and the Interstate Highway System built in the late 20th century, enlarged the markets and reduced shipping and production costs. The legal system facilitated business operations and guaranteed contracts. Cut off from Europe by

13050-444: The health and well-being of the young women, including their spiritual health, and the hundreds of women employed by it culturally established the pattern of a young woman going off to work for a few years to save money before returning home to school and marriage. It created an independent breed of women uncommon in most of the world. Even as the country grew even larger with the admission of Kentucky , Tennessee , and Ohio by 1803,

13195-479: The introduction of new manufacturing techniques in Colonial America that preceded and anticipated the industrial revolution. Late in the colonial era a few silversmiths expanded operations with manufacturing techniques and changing business practices They hired assistants, subcontracted out piecework and standardized output. One individual in the vanguard of America's shift towards more industrial methods

13340-603: The late 1780s. However, these first steamboats were complicated, heavy, and expensive. It would be almost 20 years until Robert R. Livingston contracted a civil engineer named Robert Fulton to develop an economical steamboat. Fulton's paddle steamer , The North River Steamboat (erroneously referred to as the Clermont ), made its first trip from New York City north on the Hudson River to Albany on August 17, 1807. By 1820, steamboat services had been established on all

13485-450: The low-end market. Although Henry Ford was against replacing the Model T, now 16 years old, Chevrolet was mounting a bold new challenge as GM's entry-level division in the company's price ladder. Ford also resisted the increasingly popular idea of payment plans for cars. With Model T sales starting to slide, Ford was forced to relent and approve work on a successor model, shutting down production for 18 months. During this time, Ford constructed

13630-677: The machines. Other more specialised machinists produce custom-made parts for prototyping, repair, or research. A machinist may work on manufacturing something relatively simple like a bracket, or a shaft, or something extraordinarily complex, such as aerospace components accurate to 5 micrometres. Good machinists are highly sought after and respected skilled trades persons and are generally well-paid. In utility, medical, and military use companies, experienced machinists can earn over $ 100 000 per year. Some titles reflect further development of machinist skills such as tool and die maker , patternmaker , mold maker , programmer , and operator . A machinist

13775-596: The machinist title are other specialty titles that refer to specific skills that may be more highly developed to meet the needs of a particular job position, such as fitter (assembles parts), turning hand , mill hand , and grinder . A machinist is usually called upon when a part needs to be produced from a stock material by cutting. Such a part may be unique or may be needed in the thousands. The part could be anything made from metal or plastic, though machined parts are usually ones that require high precision and cannot be produced by other means. Machinists generally start with

13920-476: The market for advanced craftsmanship was small. American artisans developed a more relaxed (less regulated) version of the Old World apprenticeship system for educating and employing the next generation. Despite the fact that mercantilist , export-heavy economy impaired the emergence of a robust self-sustaining economy, craftsmen and merchants developed a growing interdependence on each other for their trades. In

14065-701: The meaning of the term suggests the need for specialized handling and/or tooling to machine them effectively. While the foregoing were primarily the materials that a machinist would be cutting, the cutters that the machinist uses must be harder and tougher than the materials to be cut. The materials in the cutters a machinist uses are most commonly high-speed steel , tungsten carbide , ceramics , Borazon , and diamond . Machinists usually work to very small tolerances , usually within 0.010" or 0.25 mm (more commonly expressed as ±0.005" (Plus or minus five thousandths of an inch) or ±0.13 mm), and sometimes at tolerances as low as +/-0.0001" (plus or minus one tenth of

14210-723: The mid-18th century, attempts by the British to subdue or control the colonies by means of taxation sowed increased discontent among these artisans, who increasingly joined the Patriot cause. Colonial Virginia provided a potential market of rich plantations . At least 19 silversmiths worked in Williamsburg between 1699 and 1775. The best-known were James Eddy (1731–1809) and his brother-in-law William Wadill, also an engraver. Most planters, however, purchased English-made silver. In Boston , goldsmiths and silversmiths were stratified. The most prosperous were merchant-artisans, with

14355-502: The minimum daily pay from $ 2.34 to $ 5 for qualifying male workers. Detroit was already a high-wage city, but competitors were forced to raise wages or lose their best workers. Ford's policy proved that paying employees more would enable them to afford the cars they were producing and thus boost the local economy. He viewed the increased wages as profit-sharing linked with rewarding those who were most productive and of good character. It may have been James Couzens who convinced Ford to adopt

14500-416: The moment, the drift toward a larger participation of the national government in internal improvements was stayed. Two years later, Congress authorized the U.S. president to institute surveys for such roads and canals as he believed to be needed for commerce and military defense. No one pleaded more eloquently for a larger conception of the functions of the national government than Henry Clay . He called

14645-522: The more temperate climate, large-scale plantations in the American South grew labor-intensive cash crops like sugarcane , rice , cotton , and tobacco requiring the importation of thousands of enslaved Africans to maintain. Early American farmers were not self-sufficient; they relied upon other farmers, specialized craftsmen, and merchants to provide tools, process their harvests, and bring them to market. Colonial artisanship emerged slowly as

14790-575: The most common materials. Materials that machinists work with occasionally are plastics , rubber , glass , and wood products. Rarely, machinists also work with exotic and refractory metals . The term exotic metals is a general term describing out of the ordinary, rare or special purpose metals. A synonym might be space-age. A list of exotic metals might include, but is not limited to, titanium , beryllium , vanadium, chromium , molybdenum and tungsten , as well as special high-temperature metal alloys like Inconel or Hastelloy ( superalloys ). Very often

14935-431: The most successful artisans like Revere, artisan was not a profitable enterprise compared to mass-production using iron or bronze casting. Creating products that could be replicated for multiple customers, adopting new business practices and labor policies, and new equipment made manufacturing more ultimately efficient. These changes, in tandem with new techniques and requirements defined by changing social standards, led to

15080-461: The nation's transportation infrastructure with internal improvements and a confluence of technological innovations before the Civil War facilitated an expansion in organization, coordination, and scale of industrial production . Around the turn of the 20th century, American industry had superseded its European counterparts economically and the nation began to assert its military power . Although

15225-399: The new product. Ford's network of local dealers made the car ubiquitous in almost every city in North America. As independent dealers, the franchises grew rich and publicized not just the Ford but also the concept of automobiling; local motor clubs sprang up to help new drivers and encourage them to explore the countryside. Ford was always eager to sell to farmers, who looked at the vehicle as

15370-531: The only contribution of the national government to internal improvements during the Jeffersonian era was an appropriation in 1806 of two percent of the net proceeds of the sales of public lands in Ohio for the construction of a national road, with the consent of the states through which it should pass. By 1818 the road was open to traffic from Cumberland, Maryland , to Wheeling, West Virginia . In 1816, with

15515-537: The only means of transportation between these landlocked western states and their coastal neighbors was by foot, pack animal, or ship. Recognizing the success of Roman roads in unifying that empire, political and business leaders in the United States began to construct roads and canals to connect the disparate parts of the nation. Early toll roads were constructed and owned by joint-stock companies that sold stock to raise construction capital like Pennsylvania 's 1795 Lancaster Turnpike Company . In 1808, Secretary of

15660-417: The operator's navigation licenses and lowered the threshold for liability in suits arising from such accidents. While Americans long resisted any government's power to regulate private property , these new rules demonstrated that many Americans believed that property rights did not override civil rights and set the precedent for future federal safety regulations . Many minerals have been mined across

15805-470: The other investors, thus giving the family sole ownership of the company. In 1922, Ford also purchased Lincoln Motor Co. , founded by Cadillac founder Henry Leland and his son Wilfred during World War I. The Lelands briefly stayed to manage the company, but were soon expelled from it. Despite this acquisition of a premium car maker, Henry displayed relatively little enthusiasm for luxury automobiles in contrast to Edsel, who actively sought to expand Ford into

15950-440: The pacifist Rosika Schwimmer gained favor with Ford, who agreed to fund a Peace Ship to Europe, where World War I was raging. He led 170 other peace activists. Ford's Episcopalian pastor, Reverend Samuel S. Marquis, accompanied him on the mission. Marquis headed Ford's Sociology Department from 1913 to 1921. Ford talked to President Woodrow Wilson about the mission but had no government support. His group went to neutral Sweden and

16095-471: The part, especially its geometry (shape), then decide on a strategy to make it. Machine tools are then configured by the machinist and production commences. The machinist works with the quality department to ensure the specifications are maintained in the finished product. Large commercial organizations often staff machinists on site in a maintenance mode to ensure continuing operations of the production machinery. Such machinists can often make replacement parts

16240-702: The period in which the greatest economic and technological progress occurred was between the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. During this period the nation was transformed from an agricultural economy to the foremost industrial power in the world, with more than a third of the global industrial output. This can be illustrated by the index of total industrial production, which increased from 4.29 in 1790 to 1,975.00 in 1913, an increase of 460 times (base year 1850 – 100). American colonies gained independence in 1783 just as profound changes in industrial production and coordination were beginning to shift production from artisans to factories. Growth of

16385-582: The powers assumed by Congress" in passing acts to protect manufacturers and to further internal improvements. That the administration would meet with opposition in Congress was a foregone conclusion. Despite the new efficiencies introduced by the turnpikes and canals, travel along these routes was still time-consuming and expensive. The idea of integrating a steam boiler and propulsion system can be first attributed to John Fitch and James Rumsey who both filed for patents or state monopolies on steamboats in

16530-454: The price dropped to $ 360 for the basic touring car, sales reached 472,000. By 1918, half of all cars in the United States were Model Ts. All new cars were black; as Ford wrote in his autobiography, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Until the development of the assembly line, which mandated black because of its quicker drying time, Model Ts were available in other colors, including red. The design

16675-481: The profitability of the earlier turnpikes and canals which began to fold and fall into disrepair. However, the early railroads were poorly integrated; there were hundreds of competing companies using different gauges for their track requiring cargo to be trans-shipped —rather than traveling directly—between cities. The completion of the First transcontinental railroad in 1869 and its attendant profit and efficiency had

16820-524: The railroad, electric, and telecommunications systems for economic and social activities. The Overman Wheel Company , founded 1882, was the first manufacturer of safety bicycles in the United States, in their factory complex in Chicopee, Massachusetts . Following their creation in England, Overman rushed a safety bicycle to production before the end of 1887. Overman was known for making all-steel bicycles with no cast metal parts. The Overman Victor bicycle

16965-607: The relationships between the federal government , state governments , and private property owners. Livingston and Fulton had obtained monopoly rights to operate a steamboat service within the state of New York , but Thomas Gibbons , who operated a competing New Jersey ferry service, was enjoined from entering New York waters under the terms of the monopoly. In 1824, the Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that Congress could regulate commerce and transportation under

17110-872: The same day. Because of this, the labor cost for this role are significantly lower than costs involved with production shutdowns. Additive machining means 3D printing to create industrial components, prototypes, tooling, and end-use production parts. Additive machining comes into its own in the manufacturing of very small intricate parts, which could not be produced through any other manufacturing process. There are several processes in additive manufacturing which include direct metal deposition: electron beam melting, fused filament fabrication, select laser sintering, and variations of them. The most common materials that machinists make parts from are steel , aluminium , brass , copper , and various alloys of these materials. Other less common materials such as vanadium , zinc , lead , or manganese are often used as alloying elements for

17255-600: The same roof, a step which Slater's system outsourced to local farms. Lowell looms were managed by specialized employees, many of the employed were unmarried young women (" Lowell mill girls "), and owned by a corporation. Unlike the previous forms of labor ( apprenticeship , family labor, slavery , and indenture ), the Lowell system popularized the concept of wage laborer who sells his labor to an employer under contract—a socio-economic system which persists in many modern countries and industries. The corporation also looked out for

17400-520: The speed with which a complete pistol could be manufactured which led to the development of a milling machine in 1798. In 1819, Thomas Blanchard created a lathe that could reliably cut irregular shapes, like those needed for arms manufacture. By 1822, Captain John H. Hall had developed a system using machine tools , division of labor, and an unskilled workforce to produce a breech-loading rifle —a process that came to be known as " Armory practice " in

17545-423: The spring of 1893 the machine was running to my partial satisfaction and giving an opportunity further to test out the design and material on the road." Between 1895 and 1896, Ford drove that machine about 1000 miles. He then started a second car in 1896, eventually building three of them in his home workshop. Ford married Clara Jane Bryant (1866–1950) on April 11, 1888, and supported himself by farming and running

17690-409: The strength of duralumin . The plane was similar to Fokker 's V.VII–3m. The Trimotor first flew on June 11, 1926, and was the first successful U.S. passenger airliner, accommodating about 12 passengers in a rather uncomfortable fashion. Several variants were also used by the U.S. Army . The Smithsonian Institution has honored Ford for changing the aviation industry. 199 Trimotors were built before it

17835-659: The technological knowledge on how to build and power the necessary machines along with a labor supply of mobile workers, often unmarried females, all aided early industrialization. The broad knowledge carried by European migrants of two periods that advanced the societies there, namely the European Industrial Revolution and European Scientific Revolution , helped facilitate understanding for the construction and invention of new manufacturing businesses and technologies. A limited government that would allow them to succeed or fail on their own merit helped. After

17980-710: The trucking industry. More railroad companies merged and consolidated their lines in order to remain successful. These changes led to the current system of fewer, but profitable, Class I railroads covering larger regions of the United States. To replace the loss of commuter passenger rail service, state and local government agencies established their own commuter rail systems in several metropolitan areas, generally by leasing rail lines from Amtrak or freight railroads. The first rapid transit systems began operation in Chicago (1892), Boston (1897) and New York City (1904). Machinist A competent machinist should have

18125-580: The upscale market. The original Lincoln Model L that the Lelands had introduced in 1920 was also kept in production, untouched for a decade until it became too outdated. It was replaced by the modernized Model K in 1931. By the mid-1920s, General Motors was rapidly rising as the leading American automobile manufacturer. GM president Alfred Sloan established the company's "price ladder" whereby GM would offer an automobile for "every purse and purpose" in contrast to Ford's lack of interest in anything outside

18270-513: The widow of Nathanael Greene recruited Eli Whitney to develop a machine to separate the seeds of short fibered cotton from the fibers. The resulting cotton gin could be made with basic carpentry skills but reduced the necessary labor by a factor of 50 and generated huge profits for cotton growers in the South, leading to a rapid expansion of slavery in the United States . While Whitney did not realize financial success from his invention, he moved on to manufacturing rifles and other armaments under

18415-434: The world's largest fortunes without ever having his company audited under his administration. Without an accounting department, Ford had no way of knowing exactly how much money was being taken in and spent each month, and the company's bills and invoices were reportedly guessed at by weighing them on a scale. Not until 1956 would Ford be a publicly-traded company. Also, at Edsel's insistence, Ford launched Mercury in 1939 as

18560-401: Was Paul Revere , who emphasized the production of increasingly standardized items later in his career with the use of a silver flatting mill, increased numbers of salaried employees, and other advances. Still, traditional methods of artisan remained, and smiths performed a great deal of work by hand. The coexistence of the craft and industrial production styles prior to the industrial revolution

18705-407: Was a child and she was adopted by neighbors, the O'Herns. Henry Ford's siblings were John Ford (1865–1927); Margaret Ford (1867–1938); Jane Ford (c. 1868–1945); William Ford (1871–1917) and Robert Ford (1873–1877). Ford finished eighth grade at a one-room school , Springwells Middle School. He never attended high school ; he later took a bookkeeping course at a commercial school. His father gave him

18850-552: Was born in a farmhouse in Springwells Township , Michigan , and left home at the age of 16 to find work in Detroit . It was a few years before this time that Ford first experienced automobiles, and throughout the later half of the 1880s, he began repairing and later constructing engines, and through the 1890s worked with a division of Edison Electric . He founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 after prior failures in business, but success in constructing automobiles. The introduction of

18995-523: Was devastated when his mother died in 1876. His father expected him to take over the family farm eventually, but he despised farm work. He later wrote, "I never had any particular love for the farm—it was the mother on the farm I loved." In 1879, Ford left home to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, first with James F. Flower & Brothers, and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Company. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on

19140-600: Was discontinued in 1933, when the Ford Airplane Division shut down because of poor sales during the Great Depression . In 1985, Ford was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame for his impact on the industry. Ford opposed war, which he viewed as a terrible waste, and supported causes that opposed military intervention . Ford became highly critical of those who he felt financed war, and he tried to stop them. In 1915,

19285-413: Was elected president of the company. Ford then demonstrated a newly designed car on the ice of Lake St. Clair , driving 1 mile (1.6 km) in 39.4 seconds and setting a new land speed record at 91.3 miles per hour (146.9 kilometres per hour). Convinced by this success, race driver Barney Oldfield , who named this new Ford model " 999 " in honor of the fastest locomotive of the day, took the car around

19430-417: Was fervently promoted and defended by Ford, and production continued as late as 1927; the final total production was 15,007,034. This record stood for the next 45 years, and was achieved in 19 years from the introduction of the first Model T (1908). Henry Ford turned the presidency of Ford Motor Company over to his son Edsel Ford in December 1918. Henry retained final decision authority and sometimes reversed

19575-632: Was good for business, giving workers additional time to purchase and consume more goods. However, charitable concerns also played a role. Ford explained, "It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either 'lost time' or a class privilege." Ford was adamantly against labor unions . He explained his views on unions in Chapter 18 of My Life and Work . He thought they were too heavily influenced by leaders who would end up doing more harm than good for workers despite their ostensible good motives. Most wanted to restrict productivity as

19720-548: Was highly controversial, and he soon backed off from the most intrusive aspects. By the time he wrote his 1922 memoir, he spoke of the Social Department and the private conditions for profit-sharing in the past tense. He admitted that "paternalism has no place in the industry. Welfare work that consists in prying into employees' private concerns is out of date. Men need counsel and men need help, often special help; and all this ought to be rendered for decency's sake. But

19865-586: Was not regulated, nor was there an organized supply chain through which to obtain silver. As silver objects were sold by weight, manufacturers who could produce silver objects cheaply by mass had an advantage. Many of these unique, individual aspects to silver working kept artisan practices in place through the late 18th century. As demand for silver increased and large-scale manufacturing techniques emerged, silver products became much more standardized. For special-order objects that would likely only be made once, silversmiths generally used lost-wax casting , in which

20010-571: Was said to be of higher quality and lower weight than other bicycles of its time. By 1893, the Overman factory made the complete bicycle, including tyres, saddles, rims, etc. Between 1820 and 1830, many inventors and entrepreneurs began to apply emerging steamboat technology to engines that could travel on land. The earliest proposal came in 1813 from Oliver Evans ' idea of a railway to connect New York City and Philadelphia with "carriages drawn by steam engines." Many individuals and companies have

20155-637: Was signed in June 1941. About a year later, Ford told Walter Reuther, "It was one of the most sensible things Harry Bennett ever did when he got the UAW into this plant." Reuther inquired, "What do you mean?" Ford replied, "Well, you've been fighting General Motors and the Wall Street crowd. Now you're in here and we've given you a union shop and more than you got out of them. That puts you on our side, doesn't it? We can fight General Motors and Wall Street together, eh?" Like other automobile companies, Ford entered

20300-650: Was soon incorporated as Lowell, Massachusetts —which came to dominate the cloth production and clothing industry for decades. Slater's Mill was established in the Blackstone Valley , which extended into neighboring Massachusetts , ( Daniel Day 's Woolen Mill, 1809 at Uxbridge ), and became one of the earliest industrialized region in the United States, second to the North Shore of Massachusetts . Slater's business model of independent mills and mill villages (the " Rhode Island System ") began to be replaced by

20445-847: Was the first canal project undertaken as a public good to be financed at the public risk through the issuance of bonds . When the project was completed in 1825, the canal linked Lake Erie with the Hudson River through 83 separate locks and over a distance of 363 miles (584 km). The success of the Erie Canal spawned a boom of other canal-building around the country: over 3,326 miles (5,353 km) of artificial waterways were constructed between 1816 and 1840. Smaller cities, such as Syracuse, New York , Buffalo, New York , and Cleveland that lay along major canal routes boomed into major industrial and trade centers, while canal-building pushed some states like Pennsylvania , Ohio , and Indiana to

20590-558: Was the passage of the Embargo Act of 1807 , the War of 1812 (1812–15) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15) which cut off supplies of new and cheaper Industrial revolution products from Britain. The lack of access to these goods all provided a strong incentive to learn how to develop the industries and to make their own goods instead of simply buying the goods produced by Britain. Modern productivity researchers have shown that

20735-524: Was to be met by the moneys paid by the National Bank to the government, the bill was commonly referred to as the "Bonus Bill". But on the day before he left office, President Madison vetoed the bill because it was unconstitutional. The policy of internal improvements by federal aid was thus wrecked on the constitutional scruples of the last of the Virginia dynasty . Having less regard for consistency,

20880-530: Was to make sure no agreements were ever reached. The Ford Motor Company was the last Detroit automaker to recognize the UAW, despite pressure from the rest of the U.S. automotive industry and even the U.S. government. A sit-down strike by the UAW union in April 1941 closed the River Rouge Plant . Sorensen recounted that a distraught Henry Ford was very close to following through with a threat to break up

21025-578: Was very low. Indigenous peoples did not domesticate animals for drafting or husbandry , develop writing systems, or create bronze or iron -based tools like their European/Asian counterparts. In the 17th century, Pilgrims , Puritans , and Quakers fleeing religious persecution in Europe brought with them plowshares , guns , and domesticated animals like cows and pigs . These immigrants and other European colonists initially farmed subsistence crops like corn , wheat , rye , and oats as well as rendering potash and maple syrup for trade. Due to

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