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Effects automobiles have on our society
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Pretest Essay Cars have been a necessity for living ever since the first car was manufactured in 1908. Most people will use a car every day, whether it is to get to work at a prompt time or travel anywhere with ease. Car’s create a cheap and easy solution for traveling where you want to go when you want to go. The car needs to remain central in the lives of Americans because it creates the freedom, jobs, and economic support. First of all, cars create freedom, a property American’s know the importance of, by offering the option to go to places quickly and easily. Before the car, the only way of travel was by a horse and buggy, or simply walking to your destination. Both ways were tiring and impractical, limiting the places you could …show more content…
Domblewski highlights “Once cars began to be mass-produced, factories were built that put thousands of people on assembly lines.” Roads and highways also had to be constructed to provide cars with a stable path on which to run and are still being built. Along with roads, gas stations, motels and car washes created opportunities to work in one of the service providing jobs to people who drive car and the drivers themselves. Domblewski writes” … the automobile… creat(ed) whole new industries, new products, new ways of advertising and selling products, and millions of jobs,” proving not only does the assembly and selling of cars put unemployed American’s to work, it also helps other jobs and companies flourish, bringing a whole new prospective to manual labor and academic jobs. Although, as stated in “Running of the Road” by Grover Kingsley “The auto is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (a harmful substance to the environment),” it is important to remember that echo-friendly cars are a possible solution to this problem, and that with the removal of the car, millions of American’s would become jobless, unable to afford the necessities we take for granted every
In Three stages of American automobile consciousness, Flink states that the automobile industry growing rapidly in both urban and suburban area , and it gradually becomes a core industry of the economy in the 20th century. The auto industry facilitates the relation between city and suburban area and speed the pace of building modern agriculture. So, it seems like that automobile do more good than harm in the rural area. For example, in Flink’s article, it says “The general adoption of the automobile by farmers promised to break down the isolation of rural life, lighten farm labor and reduce significantly the cost of transporting farm products to market. (p6,Three Stages of American Automobile Consciousness)” Whereas in fact the Kline and Pinch
Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler surfaced as the “Big Three” auto companies heading into the 1920’s. The invention of the automobile revolutionized transportation; by the 1920’s cars made places easier to access to people. Many of the traditionalists did approve of the automobiles, but some of them just favored the old way of walking places. The traditionalists were fearful of car accidents with the upbringing of the automobile. During the 1920’s a driver’s license was not needed in most states, and there weren’t really any “rules of the road” quite yet. No signs, signals, or traffic guards, and the roads were not ready for automobiles or pedestrians yet. Some traditionalists were not for these life risking ways of automobiles, but they were accepted among most for an increase in transportation and their easy access to even those who were not rich. The modernists at this time were known to want the exciting new changes and risks, so they were all for the automobiles. This rebellious group knew the advancement of technology with automobiles meant transportation to explore, and not be stuck in the same places within walking distance. The 1920’s
Have you ever thought of what the world would be like without the automobile? This paper will talk about the things the automobile has helped create. Inventors first started experimenting with steam powered engines in the late 18th century. Cars began being produced and sold to the public in the 1890’s (Automotive History). The automobile is considered to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. As a result of the automobile, cities changed, jobs were formed, and the environment was impacted.
In Christopher Wells’ book Car Country: An Environmental History he starts by speaking about his experience over the years with automobiles. He describes how happy he was to own his first automobile. Mr. Wells goes into detail about the inconveniences of driving in towns where everything is fairly accessible, and the necessity of an automobile in major cities. Although Mr. Wells enjoyed his first car, his local surrounding helped shape the attitude he has towards motor vehicles to this day. Mr. Wells also argued that car dependence in America is connected with the landscape. Wells rejects the notion that America ‘s automobile landscape emerged as a byproduct of consumer’s desires for motor vehicles or as the result of conspiracies to eliminate
No technology has had a greater impact on the American life than the automobile. Where we live, how we work, and how we travel, what our landscape looks like, our environment have all been shaped by the automobile. There isn’t a better place that demonstrates the social, geographic, and political changes brought by the industry than Detroit, the motor city. Detroit was situated to be a center of the American automobile industry. All of the material that was needed to build was easily accessible to the city by the great lakes waterways and by rail. The automobile industry helped people with their everyday lives and changed the way people saw the world.
In the July 1997 issue of Commentary, James Q. Wilson challenges the consensus among academia’s finest regarding the automobile in his bold article, Cars and Their Enemies. Directed towards the general public, his article discredits many of the supposed negatives of the automobile raised by experts, proves that the personal car is thriving and will continue to thrive because it meets individual preference over other means of transportation, as well as presents solutions to the social costs of cars. Wilson emphasizes that no matter what is said and done in eliminating the social costs of the automobile, experts are not going to stop campaigning against it.
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
In the twentieth century, the introduction of the motor vehicle in the United States became not only noteworthy, but also vital in the development of modern American civilization. This technologically complex machine led citizens to vast future dependence on the invention. While mobility was suddenly not limited to alternative, more convoluted options such as railroad stations or bicycles, yet copiously amplified to aid convenience and expanded leisure opportunities. From auto-racing to redesigning infrastructure, motor vehicles allowed progression, digression, and essentially uttermost change to the lifestyles of the American people. This radical idea of the automobile permeated throughout America with most, if not all, credit renowned to Henry Ford.
The impact of the automobile between 1900 through 1945 was immense. It paved the way for a future dependency on the automobile. To paint a better picture, imagine life without an automobile. Everyday life would be dull, cumbersome, and tedious. An individual's mobility would be very limited. Basically, the life without an automobile could not be fathomed. The importance of the automobile is often taken for granite. Society may not know what appreciate the impact of the automobile and effects it has created. The impact of the automobile had both positive and negative effects on America between 1900 through 1945. Automobile provided an outlet for individuals and spread the freedom of travel among all classes of people. It also helped to introduce rural dwellers to the aspects of urban life and vice versa. One of the negative effects was that automobiles helped to put of big decline in the use of railroads. Over the course of the paper, I will try to expose the huge impact of the automobile an early twentieth century life.
... The "Automobile". American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al.
During the times span between 1920 and 1929, the United states experienced a dramatic change in society on an environmental, industrial, and cultural level. The availability of automobiles to the common citizen molded the American landscape, industry, and national identity. As a result, the financial and cultural gap between the upper class wealth and the lower class laborers shrank and the first semi-modern middle class was born. Henry Ford helped fuel the revolution of the American Dream by providing jobs that offered financial stability and transportation which offered a freedom many people had never experienced before. The “horseless wagon” improved street conditions and overall living conditions. People now had the ability to travel quickly and inexpensively in and out of cities. People who lived in the rural isolation of their farms were also able to transport their goods less expensively and easily to new markets. However, many argued that not all aspects associated with the automobile were viewed as positive. Cars became a speedy way to avoid the police and facilitated crime, especially involving alcohol.
Automobiles play an essential role in American society. As if being the major means of transportation was not impressive enough, automotives can be seen on T.V., in movies, in magazines, and can sometimes be indicative of a person’s wealth and social status. On average, Americans drive nearly 40 miles and drive for just over 50 minutes driving per person per day (http://www.bts.gov). That means a person spends roughly one-sixteenth of a day driving. It would make sense, then, to make such an essential part of society as efficient, cost effective, and clean as possible. However, that is not the case. As the years have passed cars have actually begun to move away from efficiency. Hawken writes, “[The automobile] design process has made cars ever heavier, more complex, and usually costlier. These are all unmistakable signs that automaking has beco...
The first American to develop an automobile was Nathan Redd. (Brown, 329) The use of the automobile in the United States became common due to the convenience and reliability of a quick, easy to operate source of transportation. The American people began to build their homes further from their jobs, and further from civilization because they could commute back and forth much more quickly. (Simanaitis, 337)
So what was the original thinking behind the car? Well to get a person and their family from point A to point B in a faster time than a horse. And it has evolved greatly ever since, even starting to loop back to Edison’s original plan for an electric car. So its safe to say that that the automobile is one of, if not, the most influential inventions on the United states.
One of the most important advantages of owning a car is convenience. It allows you the freedom to go anywhere you want whenever you want. There is no hanging about waiting for public transport to turn up in potentially bad weather.