Without the new automobile industry, the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible.Agree or Disagree?

by thelastmarauder (student)

“Without the new automobile industry, the prosperity of the 1920’s would scarcely have been possible.” Agree or Disagree?

The automobile industry started up in the 1890’s and at first production was slow and expensive as they were by skilled blacksmiths. In 1900, only 4000 cars were made. However in 1903, Henry Ford set out to revolutionise car production and “build a car for the great multitude.” Greatly influenced by the efficiency methods of Fredrick Taylor, in 1913 Ford developed the moving assembly line that helped produce 200 cars a day, with each car only taking on average one and a half hours to make. Between 1908 and 1925, over 15 million Model T Fords were produced. With the help of Ford, 1 in 5 Americans owned a car – a statistic that was unrivalled by Britain for the next 40 years.

Personally, I think that the reason why the automobile industry was so successful is because the USA was a consumer society, obsessed about having the latest commercial goods available. Because the assembly line made producing cars cheaper, other factories used the technique to produce their goods, for example radios, at a cheaper price, so more people would buy them. The idea of the assembly line alone helped to further the boom.

The automobile industry involved so many other industries and helped to keep them running. To make cars, lots of different materials were needed; steel for the chassis, rubber for the tyres, leather to upholster the seats and glass for the windows. 75% of glass produced then was used for making cars. There was also a need for oil to make petrol to run the cars as well. Not only did the automobile industry benefit the companies, it benefitted the workers. The motor industry alone employed over hundreds of thousands of workers for their factories. Since they were very good customers to the other materials industries mentioned like glass and steel, they kept the workers in those companies employed too as there was always a high demand for the materials, so the workers would still need to work to produce the materials needed.

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Another industry the cars kept busy was road building. New roads were needed so that these new cars could drive around. In the 1920’s, road building was the single largest employer in the USA. In general, the automobile industry helped to keep the unemployment levels in the USA relatively low. Alongside the industries that are directly linked into the production of the car, other businesses sprang up around the car itself – like road side advertising on bill boards. Holiday resorts started to appear as it became easier to travel around because of the car and the new roads. Petrol stations formed in case people ran out of gasoline so they could keep on travelling. One other major feature brought out by the automobile industry was suburbia. The car made it possible for people to live outside of the city and travel in for work. Suburbs began to take shape on the outskirts of big cities. This further boosted the house building industry and then also kept industries that made materials for building houses busy.

Of course, there are many other factors contributing to the economic boom in the 1920’s – it was not single-handedly carried out by the automobile industry. Obviously to be able to keep up with the demands of the car industry, the USA was rich in natural resources and had no need to import or export its goods as the home market was growing. This helped the boom because the USA was not very dependent on other countries and bought mainly from American business, improving their own economy. The First World War also helped the USA, since they kept out of the fighting until the very end and barely lost any resources. Instead they were lending money to the Allies and selling food, arms and munitions to them as well. All the one-way trade was a boost for the USA. Whilst Europe was battling in the muddy fields of France and Belgium, America took over Europe’s trade around the world and began to export to European colonies. They also overtook many European countries in industries, like Germany in the chemical industry.

From 1920 to 1932, all the Presidents were Republicans, and Congress was dominated by republicans as well. Their policies helped give business the freedom the needed to prosper. The Republicans believed in “Laissez-faire” or let it be, which meant that the government interfered with people’s lives as little as possible. The President left businessmen alone to do their jobs since they knew best. They also imposed tariffs on foreign imports, making them more expensive to cancel out overseas competition and get people to buy American goods. Low taxation meant that people had more money to spend on American goods and it meant that wealthy people would reinvest into the USA’s industry. The Republicans also allowed trusts to form. Trusts were super-corporations that controlled certain industries. Republicans believed that the “Captains of industry” like Carnegie (steel) and Rockefeller (oil) knew what was better for America in their field than the politicians.

Finally, the American state of mind was changing. People believed that they had a right to be prosperous. Their main aim in life was to have a good, well-paying job, a nice big house, lots of food to eat and all the latest consumer goods in their home. The idea of consuming was becoming more and more American and the old ideas of thrift and “saving for a rainy day” were thrown out.

In my opinion, the automobile was extremely important in creating the “prosperity of the 1920’s.” It helped other industries to survive, whilst creating many other business opportunities and providing jobs for many people. But there were other events and policies that helped the boom. Overall, I agree with the statement “Without the new automobile industry, the prosperity of the 1920’s would scarcely have been possible.” But I do think “scarcely” is a bit harsh. I would say that without the automobile industry, the prosperity of the 1920’s would not have been as great as it could have been. There would have still been a boom, but it would have been much less noticeable, rather like the “boom” we had in the early 2000’s before the recession began.

Trishnaah Selvajothy 10MS