The Impact of the Automobile on the United States Essay -- Automobiles

The Impact of the Automobile on the fall in States The elevator car has had a profound impact on the united States. It has brought ussuperhighways, paved bridges, motels, vacations, suburbia, and the sparing growthwhich accompanied them. Today, the automotive industry and nearly one one thousand thousand relatedindustries employ about twenty percent of all American workers. The US produces moreautomobiles than every other nation combined. This product has father a symbol of theAmerican way of life. The US is sometimes referred to as a nation on wheels. Considering these facts, one must wonder what the United States was like before therevolutionary innovation of the automobile. The first automobile was invented by a French artillery officer, Nicholas JosephCugnot. His self-propelled vehicle was powered by steam. Other models ofsteam-powered automobiles were created by different innovators, but these models wereeventually make obsolete by the internal-combustion powered c ar invented by Jean JosephEtienne Lenior. This technology reached the United States when Charles and FrankDuryea made the first successful American natural gas automobile. Ransom Eli Olds had theearliest assembly line for automobiles and began mass production. Later, Henry get oversModel T dominated the car industry and remained the most popular automobile for nearlytwenty years. In the early years of the automobile, there was not a real automotive industry. Onlya few hundred cars were made in the early years of automobile manufacturing. They werevery seldom seen and only could be afforded by the wealthy. The car was such(prenominal) anunfamiliar spectacle, it was sometimes featured in circuses. Eventually, the car began toincrease in popularity. During the 1920s, the US economy was on the rise and one of the main reasonswas the automobile. congregation lines were becoming more efficient, thus, admitting cars tobe made more cheaply and allowing monetary values of cars to drop. From 1909 to 1925, the priceof a Ford Model T dropped from $950 to $290. This allowed more people to be able toafford them. Millions were sold. The automobile, once a rare luxury, was becoming apart of American life. It had a ripple effect on US industries. With the increase inautomobiles, came an increase in related products. Large quantities of glass, good-for-naught andsteel were needed t... ...nvolved with the safety of Americans. Many actions by the governmentsuch as the seatbelt requirement and the establishment of the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) suffer made the automobile safer for the general public. The automobile has had many different set up on the United States, both good andbad. In the future it impart continue to shape our culture, commerce and surroundings.Works Cited1Thomas DiBacco, Lorna Mason, Christian Appy, History of the United States, vol. 2 (Evanston McDougal Littell Inc.), p. 324.2John Rae, The American Automobile Industry, (Bo ston G.K. abidance & Company), p. 89-92.3John Rae, The American Automobile Industry, (Boston G.K. Hall & Company), p. 96.4John Rae, The American Automobile Industry, (Boston G.K. Hall & Company), p. 188.5John Rae, The American Automobile Industry, (Boston G.K. Hall & Company), p. 89-90.6American Lung acquaintance of California, , 13 April 2001.7National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, , 14 April 2001.