Henry+Ford


 * Henry Ford** (b. July 30, 1863, d. April 7, 1947) was and is possibly the most prominent figure in the history of automobile industry. He heavily influenced the Michigan economy and created what would become one of the world's top car companies, likely to top $8 billion this year. His name is easily recognized and he also belived in reincarnation.


 * Early Life **

Henry James Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan to William and Mary Litogot Ford. He was of English-Belgian descent. Henry's love of machines and technology was apparent at age twelve when he encountered a steam-powered engine that was used for sawing wood. Young Ford was enthralled and questioned Fred Reden, the operator of the machine. This and a fondness of repairing watches would inspire his future career. Despising the farm he grew up on and the work that came with it, he worked odd jobs until he got married in 1888 to Clara Ala Bryant and began operating a sawmill. Ford would work for the renowned inventor Thomas Edison after showing him a model of a car that runs on gasoline (as opposed to electricity). This was his inspirational moment, but his big break came in 1899 when, after winning a race, the mayor of Detroit, William Maybury, gave $15,000 to form the Detroit Automobile Company.


 * [[image:BenQuadricycle.gif align="right" caption="The quadricycle, one of Ford's earlier inventions"]] Mid-life Success﻿ **

Some of Ford's many achivements consisted of...
 * A land speed record on June 16 1903
 * A production record of 15,007,034 cars by 1927
 * The fact that he didn't belive in accountants
 * The Model T and A automobiles
 * Receiving the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest award Nazi Germany could award a foreigner

Henry ford was a beacon of light in a racist world; A prominat man in a time before civil rights. he was one of the first employers to take African American into his plant when most corporations would turn them away. He made contact with fellow inventor George Washington Carver (shown at right) and would become close freinds with the man. Henry Ford also had high standereds for his workers. He ran a social department that ensured a lack of drinking, smoking, and other bad habits.
 * Henry Ford's workers **

Henry Ford was asked by the current president of the times, Woodrow Wilson to run for senator or Michigan, Ford was a peaceful canidate who supported League Of Nations.


 * The Model T **

Ford once bragged that he could build a car for the masses. By 1896, he had an automobile built and ready, reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour. However, he lacked the financial and administrative backup needed to sell to the public. It would take seven more years to acquire such backup.

Once 1908 rolled around, Ford had his car: the Model T. This car was simple, black and cheap to repair. The car was a runaway success. It sold six thousand units in the first year alone and the numbers reached 248,000 six years later and following the introduction of the assembly line. By 1923, about 57% of all cars being manufactured and sold in the United States were Ford cars.


 * Controversy and Disenchantment **

Although Ford is know for the eight hour day, five dollars a day, which was much more than other companies were offering he was no angel, he despised unions and hired strikebreakers and scabs. He was an Anti-Semitist, blaming Jews for WWII. In fact, Adolf Hitler is said to have read Ford's anti-Semitic articles, cumulatively known as The International Jew. Refusing to engage in pasteurized milk he fed his son (Edsel Ford) unpasteurized milk, causing complications that lead to stomach cancer and his son Edsel's death.


 * Legacy **

Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry, inventing the auto assembly line and creating one of the largest car companies in history. Henry Ford, brilliant and clever, changed the way we get from point A to B. Known as the father of the traffic jam, his work lives on in every Ford car you see on the streets.

Special thanks to...

Baldwin, Neil; // Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate // ; PublicAffairs, 2000.

"Henry Ford." //The Henry Ford//. American Association of Museums, 2003. Web. 15 Feb 2011. .

"Henry Ford." //Wikipedia//. Wikipedia, 11 February 2011 at 08:31. Web. 15 Feb 2011. ** []. **

Nash, Roderick; "Henry Ford: Symbol of an Age;" //The Nervous Generation: American Thought, 1917-1930//; Rand-McNally Publishing Company, Chicago; 1970.