Joseph Theiss
Mr. Hubert
AP Language and Composition
March 6, 2015
How The Automobile Benefited America During the 20th Century Isn't it hard to believe that there are currently one billion automobiles being used on a daily basis throughout the world? But, there always wasn't that many in the world as the automobile has only been around since the early 1900s. An automobile, also called a car, is a four wheeled vehicle that has its own motor and is used in daily travels around the world. Even though our world is filled with them now, automobiles were quite rare during the 1910s and 1920s. In the United States automobiles were just being developed at this time, but once the automobile became popular, people used them with every opportunity
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The introduction to the document stated “…Yet I think there can be no serious question that the motor-car has come to be more important to us socially than the horse.”2 It is evident, A. Albert was saying that cars became much more important than horses. An automobile was something that every person should have, it became a necessity. There is a reason why this time period was called the “roaring twenties”. It was an age of mass production, mass consumption and an age of social and economic advancement. Automobiles were made with a simple purpose, to help shorten the travel time, however it made traveling also interesting and fun. Big automobile industries such as “Ford” began making stereo systems. Now people could listen to the same music, or radio stations which made people have something in common. Looking at the big picture automobiles were a part of the “roaring twenties”. The reason 1920’s were the “roaring twenties” was in fact because of automobiles. Without automobiles, there would not have been such a drastic increase of people moving/commuting to cities. Since cars ran on gas it meant gas stations were also a necessity. A large amount of cars were being made therefor a lot of materials were needed and new roads were being paved which meant that there were more jobs and a decline in an unemployment
Rudi Volti’s Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology (Greenwood Press, 2004) examines the evolution of the automobile, starting from 1765, with Nicholas Cugnot’s steam-powered vehicles, to the present day. The goal of the book, as stated by Volti in the introduction, is to “pay particular attention to the automobile’s technical evolution while at the same time delineating the cultural, social, and political context in which that evolution has taken place” (xi). Thus, Volti also demonstrates the cultural and societal effects that resulted from the emergence and mass production of automobiles. Volti divides the history of automobiles into seven time periods, each a separate chapter that achieves his goal. He accomplishes his objectives by stating the technological advances and societal context under different headings, occasionally linking the two topics together.
something that everyone once dreamed of owning. Now after the war. they could finally own one. Automobiles of the 1940’s were dull and very plain. This was because designers were too busy designing tanks, planes, etc... for the ongoing war. The major event that took place that changed the way cars looked and how they performed happened on October 14, 1947. This was when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. From this point on everyone wanted to go faster.
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The creation of the twentieth century. There also was a social rank the wealthy could only own the electric light and cars were first because they were the only ones that could pay for it. When there was the higher incomes made the importance to people to have more money and spend it on cars and goods during this time especially after the great depression people went from basically broke to having some money to spend on stuff. Much thanks to cars there was a big production of roads that were made over time and it also connects distant places and communities. One of the very most known highways in the United States is “Route 66” that connects the Midwest and southern California. With cars in being in high demand business started wanting products to be sent to other places. During the 1900’s when millions of people left their home to live in the city in the United States also provided immigrants and other minority groups jobs at assembly lines and other specialized jobs. In the 1920’s the U.S. government became more involved with making the roads matter to connect t major cities. Through 1939-1945 the U.S. government Sayed no production on cars because the U.S. was focusing on the war needs. Company like General Motor Company’s started working on warplanes, guns, tanks, ammunition and armored cars for people now a days their car represents more than their social status. During the three were war posters incourgening the war production effort with the saying “keep’em firing”. In 1956 was when the “Highway Act” was made and it builded a system of insterstate highways. In 1960’s there was a cioncern about air pollution and that’s how the idea started for electric cars. There is about eight hundred million passenger’s cars that people drive across the world roads and highways. In the 1920’s and 1970’s there were some scares about
The first automobile was made useful in France and Germany in the late 1800’s. America’s industry of automobile started in the early 1990’s. Henry ford had a big production that was used everywhere and made America’s production well known in the world. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/11430673/Environmental_Challenges_Facing_the_American_Auto_Industry
Automobiles of the 1920’s are more than just automobiles of the 1920’s there is so much more to it. Automobiles created new opportunities for the 1920’s. Road construction companies had a big advantage on the 1920’s. Laws had to come into effect as more and more automobiles was manufactured. An Act was put into place called the Federal Highway Act of 1921.
The automobiles made a huge impact in United States history. The first car was the electric car and was one of the most popular cars but didn’t have a battery that lasted or could go fast. Then the steam-powered car was built and lasted into the 1920s, but the price was high and there was a risk of the engine exploding, so the car wasn’t very popular. The gas-powered cars became very popular in the 1920s and Ford sold over a million automobiles.
The narrative of the decline of the most famous paved highway in American history reads like a tragic love affair. “Fabled”, “notorious”, and “inspiring” are words that can easily be woven into the dialogue. Adam Payne and Douglas Hurt point out insightfully, “Route 66 is a symbol of American identity, a pilgrimage site for personal voyages of self-discovery” (283). It was established in 1926. Stretching nearly 2500 miles, Route 66 “captured America’s sense of freedom, adventure and opportunity” (Blitz, par. 1).
The invention of the automobile dates all the way back to the mid 18th century with the development of the first steam powered automobile by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. As time went on in history other types of automobiles were developed to enhance the transportation system in the United States. The cost to develop all these different types of automobiles over the years was very expensive, which caused the cost to purchase any type of automobile to be too expensive as well. At first it was a luxury type item, that only the rich and powerful could own because many could not afford to purchase any types of automobiles developed at the time. It was not until the early 20th century, when Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company changed the way of transportation
Since the development of the steam engine people had been interested in creating self-powered vehicles, this manifested during the industrial revolution as the train. However, as time went on people became interested in creating a vehicle that wasn’t confined to tracks. The earliest attempts were moderately successful but served little practical purpose. Automobiles first began to truly spread with the invention of the electric motor which created cheaper, more powerful, and safer automobiles. Still the automobile still had numerous problems and were mainly in the hands of the rich. It was the development of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line that was truly able to create a practical vehicle that could be used by all and
Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1866; it has changed the world in how we commute every day. From riding in carriages to now cutting our time travel whether it is riding a bus or our on car. It has become more of a necessity in today's world to have a car because its something that we choose to have in our daily life that it is a choice that is high on the priority list to own. As to wealthier people the type of car you drive puts in a different class. Where some get the choice of car that they want others have a certain budget on what to look for. The way an automobile symbolizes today, changed in society, and how a car has become a collection.
Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital
The birth of the automobile was truly something special. Once a far fetched dream is now what many people believe to be the back bone of the American economy. When people think about the automobile the name that comes to mind is most usually Henry Ford. Although he is not credited with the invention of the automobile, Henry Ford played a crucial role in the development of mass production. The automobile was first invented Europe in 1771 with a top speed of 2.3 miles per hour. A man by the name of Gottliech Daimler produced what was known as the milestone car in 1889, this vehicle traveled at 10 miles per hour (Brown, 105). Not more then a handful of these cars were produced over seas. Not many people had ever
Transportation systems are linked with a wide range of environmental considerations at all geographical scales, from the global to the local. The nature of these environmental impacts is related to the transport modes themselves, their energy supply systems, their emissions and the infrastructures over which they operate. While consuming large quantities of energy, especially oil, vehicles also emits numerous pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and noise and transport infrastructures have damaged many ecological systems. Several of the environmental impacts of transport systems have been externalized, implying that the benefits of mobility are realized by a few while the costs are assumed by the whole