Henry Ford. An inventor, a father, a creator, a husband, and most of all a great American. As the creator of the Ford Auto Company and owner of his own foundation his name is still well known today. 147 years later, he and his inventions are useful in the today world, even though we have TV’s, IPods, Phones, and Computers. He helped society move forward even if it was only a small step.
Henry Ford is a great American because he raised the minimum wage, created quality vehicles in reach of the average middle class and managed to do what he loved while still being a great husband and father to his only son.
On a warm summer July day in Dearborn Michigan, the 30th to be exact, 1863 the cry of the greatest American can be heard. Born to a family, being the best older brother to the six children his mother and father had together. Born on a small farm required little education, he only attended school till the age fifteen. When Ford was small he even still had an interest towards machinery, although he never really liked farming machinery. In 1879 he left the farm to become and apprentice, at the “Detroit Dry-Dock Company,” he earned 2.50 and hour but boarding was 3.50 so at night after a long hard day, he sat and fixed clocks and watches. He left and then began working again at the Westing House, locating and repairing road engines. Later, his father asked him to come back to the farm and bribed him to come back with 40 acres of timberland. He accepted and came back and built a mechanists workshop on the property, his father was disappointed, but this is how he met his wife, Clara Bryant. Clara and Henry later gave birth to their one and only son, Edsil Bryant. Born November 6th 1893. He later then began to spend more and more time at the “Edison Illuminating Company.” Then by 1896 he left his family farm for good. Four years later when his child was one year old he, became the chief engineer and met Thomas A. Edison, who eventually became one of his closest friends. After working he gave most of his spare time that he didn’t spend with his family to building an internal combustion engine. He finished his first car in 1896, following after many other innovations, the car he built was small driven by a 2 cylinder, four-cycle motor, by far the lightest of any car built weighing in at 500 pounds, mounted on bicycle wheels also lacking the convenience of a reverse gear. In 1899 sadly the “Edison Illuminating Company” made him choose between his love for cars... and his job. He chose his cars because he knew there was something on the horizon of invention. Henry Ford was creative. A little later that year he formed the “Detroit Automobile Company,” which later collapsed because he disagreed with his financial backers or supporters. Again he tried to make the “Henry Ford Automobile Company.” Like Edison said when he created the light bulb, I didn’t fail 100 times I found 100 ways not to make a light bulb. Henry Ford was persistent. He figured out early that he did not make good popular reputation, by building racing cars, which culminates in the “999” model driven by the oh so famous “Barney Oldfield.” One day, he got the idea of low priced cars for the masses, but the notion flew in the face of thought, which considered cars only for the rich. After the “999” victories Alex Y. Malcomson a Detroit Coal Dealer, offered aid to Ford in the light of a new company. The result yet again middle aged persistent Henry created with the financial support of Malcomson, “The Ford Motor Company.” Founded in 1903. Exchanges in stocks were made to get small plants, motors, and transmissions. Much of the company’s success can be accredited to his assistants – James S. Couzens, C.H. Wills, and John and Horace Dodge. In 1903 ford began to build a model type. Type “A” which very much imitated the Oldsmobile and followed with other models till the letter “S”. By 1907, the company’s profits exceeded $1,100,000 and the company’s net worth was at $1,038,822. In 1909 Ford made the risky decision to manufacture only on type of car the Model “T” nicknames “Tin Lizzie.” By this time he had bought out Malcomson to own the company by himself and had firmly established it. The “Model T” was durable, economical, and easy to operate, sold for $850 dollars, and was sold in one color. Black. Within four years (1911) Ford was producing at least 40000 cars a year, because of one of the amazing inventions he had, called the assembly line. The assembly line is processes in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods. During the rapid growth of his large company, he went by two principals: Cutting costs by increased efficiancy and paying high wages to his employees. Ford believed that work should be brought by a conveyor belt to the worker at waist level. In 1914 he startled the industrial world by raising the minimum wage by 5 dollars a day almost double the company’s average wage in addition the “Tin Lizzie” had dropped in price to 600 dollars and later 360. Henry Ford was now internationally known but his public activities were less successful then his industrial ones. In 1915 he sent a peace ship to Europe to seek and end to World War One. In 1918 Ford ran to be a US Senator as a Democrat but failed in the early stages. Fords worst mistake was a campaign that was published in his own newspaper the Dearborn Independent.When the United States went into World War one Fords output of military equipment and his promise to rebate all profits on war production (he never did) silenced all of his critics. By the end of Fords Ricer Rouge Plant he had taken control of the whole company by buying out his stocks. In the early 1920’s the company was still rapidly growing, at one time producing 60 percent of the total United States output. By the time Ford was still relying on his trusty black model T (the Tin Lizzie). In 1925 Ford lost his top spot in the General Motors Company. By 1927-Ford stopped producing the “Tin Lizzie”. By that time Ford had to think. He had to think. Eighteen long months later, he came up with an idea. The model “A”, started being produced but between the time the “Tin Lizzie” and the model “A” started being produced, there had been some unemployment. The new car didn’t make him top dog, because Chevrolet (Chevy) was still dominant but Ford was second. When the Great depression hit, Ford went into denial, he refused to adhere to the changes that needed to be made. In 1938 unfortunately Ford had a stroke but that large health issue didn’t stop him- much less slow him down. By the end of World War Two, Fords grandson Henry Ford the second, at age 25 took over the company. On April 7th, 1947 Henry Ford bit the dust.
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Works Cited
Bourgoin, Susan M. "Ford, Henry II (1917-1987)." Student Resource Center-Gold. Detroit, Gale Research, 1998. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
McGrath, Kimberly A. "Ford, Henry (1863-1947)." Student Resource Center-Gold. Thomson Gale, 2006. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
Brewer, Thomas B. "Ford, Henry (1863-1947)." Student Rescorce Center-Gold. Gale Research, 1998. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.
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Picture Cited
Ford Quadricycle Card. 2001. Photograph. Dearborn. Ford Quadricycle - 1896 At The Henry Ford Museum And Greenfield Village. Dearborn: CLEARENCE P. HORNUNG, 2001. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.
