history research paper
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A stern man, Ford changed with the outbreak of World War I. His attempts to orchestrate an end to the fight made him look like a maniac. In 1918 he won the Michigan Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat but lost the general nomination by a small margin. Next, he bought the Dearborn Independent, a local newspaper, and used it as a mouthpiece for his racist and isolationist views.
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After the high-water mark of the early 1920s, the Ford Company began to slip. A new 1,100-acre factory, the River Rouge complex in Dearborn, opened and marked Ford's attempt at vertical integration. The size and sprawl of the Rouge proved too much for Ford. Personality clashes with subordinates left the company a virtual one-man operation, which proved dreadful.
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As he predicted, the price of Model Ts soon fell to $300, giving Ford 96% of the inexpensive car market. Ford next focused on labor problems. He instituted profit-sharing and a bonus system, but it was the "five-dollar day" in 1914 that really took hold
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By 1903 over 1,500 firms had attempted to enter the fledgling automobile industry, but only a few, such as Ransom Olds, had become firmly established. Ford began production of a Model A, which imitated the Oldsmobile, and followed with other models, to the letter S. The public responded, and the company flourished. By 1907 profits exceeded $1,100,000, and the net worth of the company stood at $1,038,822.
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By 1921 nearly 5.5 million Ford automobiles had been built.
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Despite his manufacturing prowess, Ford's dictatorial management style and reluctance to alter his product to keep pace with the changing demands of the public signaled the end of the Ford Motor Company's world dominance. By 1936, the Ford Motor Company's share of the automotive market ranked the company in third place behind General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation.
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Ford began to spend more and more time in Detroit working for the Edison Illuminating Company, which later became the Detroit Edison Company. By 1891 he had left the farm permanently. Four years later he became chief engineer; he met Thomas A. Edison, who eventually became one of his closest friends.
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Ford devoted his spare time to building an automobile with an internal combustion engine. His first car, finished in 1896, followed the attempts, some successful, of many other innovators
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Ford engaged in some philanthropic activity, such as the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The original purpose of the Ford Foundation, established in 1936 and now one of the world's largest foundations, was to avoid estate taxes
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Ford was ever the tinkerer; while still a young man, he built his own steam engine, coupled it to an old mowing machine and built his own tractor. While working for the Detroit Edison Company, he built several gasoline-powered carriages in his home workshop, selling them to finance his next
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Ford workers had an eight-hour workday, shorter than the industry average. This allowed the factory to run three eight-hours shifts a day. More importantly, Ford paid workers a basic wage of $5 a day, eclipsing the industry's usual $1.80 to $2.50. The move made Ford a national hero, and his legend approached cult status. He represented the all-American success story.
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Ford's last years were frustrating. He never accepted the changes brought about by the Depression and the 1930s New Deal. He fell under the spell of Harry Bennett, a notorious figure with underworld connections, who, as head of Ford's security department, influenced every phase of company operations and created friction between Ford and his son Edsel.
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He announced that the company would reduce its production to one type, the Model T. "I will build a motor car for the great multitude," he proclaimed. The way to make them affordable, he said, was "to make them all alike, to make them come through the factory just alike." Stockholders were furious, but since Ford controlled 58% of the company there was little they could do.
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He sold his first machine for $200, then built a second one, bigger and more powerful than the first. Backed by investors, Ford opened the Detroit Automobile Company (soon reorganized as the Henry Ford Company), the first car manufacturer in what would come to be called the "Motor City." Ford entered his cars in races and soon won a reputation for speed, setting new records in the process. His success brought more investors' money into the company, beginning the close union between the auto industry and racing.
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Henry Ford did not invent the principles of mass production—they were in use for nearly a century before the Model T—but Ford had the vision to apply mass production techniques to the manufacture of automobiles
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Henry Ford held all of the stock in the company that bore his name and kept strict control of the company until 1945, when he retired in favor of his grandson, Henry Ford II
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Henry Ford, who vowed to "build a motor car for the great multitude."
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In 1899 the Detroit Edison Company forced Ford to choose between automobiles and his job. Ford chose cars and that year formed the Detroit Automobile Company, which collapsed after he disagreed with his financial backers. His next venture was the unsuccessful Henry Ford Automobile Company. Ford did gain some status through the building of racing cars, which culminated in the "999," driven by the famous Barney Oldfield.
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In 1902 Ford left the company he'd founded, and started the Ford Motor Company in 1903.
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In 1909 Ford made the momentous decision to manufacture only one type of car—the Model T, or the "Tin Lizzie." By now he firmly controlled the company, having bought out Malcomson. The Model T was durable, easy to operate, and economical; it sold for $850 and came in one color—black. Within 4 years Ford was producing over 40,000 cars per year.
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In the fall of 1908 the first Model T rolled out. The car had several new features that made it more negotiable on country roads, and the engine was encased for protection. Ford set the price at $825, which he knew was expensive, but he believed the price would fall through assembly line technology
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The Model T also looked outdated by the late 1920s. Stylish models from General Motors and Chrysler forced Ford to drop the car and replace it with the Model A. Just when Ford began regaining market share, the Depression hit and spelled doom
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The heavy demand for cars forced Ford to pioneer new methods of production. He built the largest and most modern factory in America on a 60-acre tract in Highland Park in Detroit
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The oldest of six children, Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, on a prosperous farm near Dearborn, Mich. He attended school until the age of 15, meanwhile developing a dislike of farm life and a fascination for machinery.
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The outbreak of World War II also hurt Ford's image. At home, he intimidated his workers through campaigns of espionage and subversion against labor unions. His fuzzy pro-Hitler remarks and turn to isolationism led many to label Ford a Nazi apologist. Ford died in 1947, just as suburbanization and a reinvigorated car craze swept the natio
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With Ford in control, efficiency became the keystone of his operations. For 20 years, Ford produced black Model Ts, and only Ts (often called the "Tin Lizzie" or "flivver").
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after three years in the machine shop, he joined the westinghouse engine company as a part time employee spending his off hours in a machine shop of his own.
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although he did not invent the technolgy that made him famous, fords profound impact on American culture cannot be underestimated.
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born in dearborn ,Michigan, in 1863, Henry Ford had an aptitude for machinery.
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by age 16, leaving his family farm against his fathers wishes, ford apprenticed in a machine shop in Detroit.
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he company produced eight different models, and within five years made 100 cars a day. During this time Ford bought many out many of his original investors, and by 1908 owned 58% of the company. Ford's dissatisfaction with the small number of cars produced was growing—he wanted to produce 1,000 a day
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in 1896 he produced a two cylinder, four cycle engine that generated four horsepower.
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ord sold 11,000 cars from 1908 to 1909, then outdid himself with the 1910 model, selling 19,000. Sales skyrocketed, reaching 248,000 in 1914, or nearly half the U.S. market
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ord was now an internationally known figure, but his public activities were less successful than his industrial ones. In 1915 his peace ship, the Oskar II, sailed to Europe to seek an end to World War I. His suit against the Chicago Tribune for calling him an anarchist received unfortunate publicity
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the development of the automobile, which opened up the nationsfor its people , and the assembly line, which established mass production as the mechanism for economic power.