Who revolutionized the automobile industry and pioneered modern manufacturing?

Steam-powered automobiles were invented near the end of the 18th century, but it was not until the invention of the internal combustion engine in 1889 that the technology improved enough to replace traditional horse-drawn carriages.

One hundred years ago, in 1908, Henry Ford developed the first Model T automobile. He revolutionized the production of the automobile and made it affordable to the masses--selling price $850. Ford quipped, "you can have your choice of any color, as long as it's black."

Over the next few years, the Model T helped revolutionize modern life as America transformed into a more mobile society. Ford's concepts of standardization, interchangeable parts, division of labor, and the moving assembly line had a tremendous impact on manufacturing. Ford also instituted a five-dollar-per-day minimum wage that made his factory workers the highest paid in the nation.

The age of Henry Ford's success with the automobile was also the age of the domination of big business and the formation of trusts and monopolies that took advantage of labor and consumer prices.

Pathfinder: Click the icon for 1900s > Big Business

Assign a report of approximately 200 words that utilizes at least three resources. Student reports should address essential questions that integrate critical thinking. The following are examples, but teachers can create others:

• What were some of the arguments for the creation of trusts and monopolies?
  
  
• What were some of the arguments against the formation of trusts and monopolies?
  
  
• What were the strategies that the industrialists use to gain their power?
  
  
• Why was the philanthropy of the great industrialists not necessarily good for the country?
  
  
• Who were some of the leaders of the anti-trust movement and what strategies did they use?

Here are some new ProQuest models that students can use for their PowerPoint (1, 2) and written reports.