Henry Ford

Model T Ford & The Cycle of Prosperity

By Mr RJ Huggins
www.SchoolHistory.co.uk

The Model T Ford

Henry Ford set out to build a car which everyone could afford to buy. It was slow, ugly and difficult to drive, and was nick named the Tin Lizzie by the American people.

The Model T Ford

The attraction of the Model T Ford was that its price never increased. Costing $1200 in 1909, the price in 1928 was only $295. By 1929 Ford was producing more than one car per minute

Mass Production
Ford was able to sell cars cheaply because they were mass-produced and every part was Standardised (only one colour and one engine size were available). By producing large numbers of cars on an Assembly Line Ford needed fewer skilled workers, and that cut the cost of paying wages.

Mass Production

Ford invented the idea of using an Assembly Line to speed up production.

Key Quote Henry Ford

A customer can have any colour he likes for his car so long as it's black

How would this have helped to cut production costs?

Assembly Lines
each man and each
machine do only one thing ... the thing is to keep everything in motion and take the work to the man not the man to the work

Henry Ford 1925

Car Industry
More jobs are created in other industries.

More Standardised parts are needed

Mass productions & Standardisation lead to increased car sales.

Steel

Glass

The Cycle of Prosperity!

Jobs in Diners, Motels & Gas Stations. More Oil is used.

Rubber Leather
More people with jobs means that they can afford to buy a car!

More roads are built.

Car Production & Cycle of Prosperity

Car production used up 20% of America's steel, 80% of her rubber, 75% of her plate glass and 65% of her leather. By the end of the 1920s American cars used seven billion gallons of petrol a year. This helped to create jobs in the oil industry and made the oil state of Texas rich.

Aerial view of the Rouge plant in 1930

In 1929, there were 81,000 men working in this one factory

Summary
Key Words

In order to get a a grade C upwards in exams, you must learn and use the key words & facts. These concepts will be awarded as key knowledge.

Cycle of Prosperity Mass Production Assembly Lines Unskilled Workers Standardisation. Model T Ford Tin Lizzie

Exam Question 1
A small town in Texas, 1925

How reliable is this source to an historian writing about the effects of mass production in the USA in the 1920s?

Exam Question 2
A customer can have any colour he likes for his car so long as it's black Does this quote fully explain how the system of mass production worked? Use your own knowledge and the source to explain your answer.

Mark Scheme
Level 1 2 3 4 Grade E D C/B A/A* Description Simple undeveloped answer. Uses or combines information from the sources. Uses sources & own relevant knowledge / concepts. Balanced answer covering both parts of the question

Question 1
For

Level 3

Against

Some cars are similar i.e. Standardisation. Model T Fords Cycle of Prosperity people can afford to buy cars.

Only one town. Not enough evidence for the whole of the USA. Texas was a rich oil producing state which meant more people could afford to buy cars than other parts of the USA.

Level 4 = an answer which includes one from each column.

Question 2
Level 3
For
All the cars are the same colour black - i.e. Standardisation.

Against
No mention of Assembly Lines No mention of cheap unskilled workers.

Level 4 = an answer which includes one from each column.

Improving your grades

D= C= A=

Just uses sources. Relevant knowledge & concepts backing up one side.
Answer using relevant Knowledge & concepts.

The End
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