The history of America is characterized by individuals who played very significant roles in realizing the American dream. As I will point out in this essay employing the question-answer format, these individuals’ past experiences helped a great deal in shaping their personalities.
What techniques did Henry Fold incorporate to turn his small automobile company into the giant Ford Motor Company?
Despite being born to a farmer and eventually dropping out of school at the tender age of fifteen to work on his family’s farm and finally moving to Detroit to pursue his interest in mechanical work, Henry Ford defied all odds to become an apprentice in his trade and eventually built the mainly famed Ford Motor Company. Ford’s ability in strategizing is quite evident since after losing investors for spending eighty-six thousand dollars on a car that could not be sold, he majorly capitalized on the vehicle’s performance, which enabled him to acquire more investors and eventually to propel his company to greater heights ( Nash 225).
Ford’s improved mass production method was another technique that he employed to enable him to enhance the company’s proceeds. This also proved to be a worthy venture since it helped him to reduce both the cost and time of production from fourteen hours to an hour and a half. This state of affairs hence enabled him to retail his vehicles at relatively lower prices than his competitors therefore increasing his sales and the company’s general turnover.
What traits enabled Henry Ford to become the greatest industrialist of the early twentieth century?
Resilience and determination come out quite strongly as Ford’s most significant traits since, despite all the hardships he had encountered while growing up and some of the failures he encountered while setting up his company, among other setbacks, he was never discouraged or demoralized. Ford was a key proponent of the fact that there are two ways of making money; at the expense of others and by service to others; the first method does not make money, does not create anything; it only gets money and does not always succeed in that (Nash 231). The second way pays wise to maker and user, buyer, and seller; it receives by creating and receives only a just share because no one is entitled to everything (Nash 23).
His efforts to openly oppose the world war and to support the Woman’s peace party organize a peace conference in Holland also shed light on the humane nature of Henry Ford. He also reached out to America’s top anti-war campaigner and headed their call to sponsor an international conference in Stockholm to discuss and bring the war to an end. He often opined that nature and humanity supply too many partners for harmonious living.
Why did Jane Addams choose Chicago and Hull House to establish her settlement house?
Miss Adams’s tour of Europe largely influenced her decision to choose the Hull House in Chicago since she wanted to establish a settlement house similar to the Toynbee Hall in London to accomplish her long life objectives.
Her choice of Chicago was also influenced by the fact that a considerable number of people in the area were underprivileged; hence the settlement house would be of great importance to them as opposed to the other privileged regions. The Hull House was also large enough to accommodate their desired activities.
What were the career options for women of Jane Adams’s social class during the latter 1800s?
Women’s rights and responsibilities had, for a long time, been ignored in society, and it hence took a lot of bravery on the part of some women like Jane Addams to come out in the open and seek recognition. Coming from a well-endowed family, Miss Addams would have pursued any career she would have wished to since his father, who was a prosperous miller with political connections, would afford to send her to any school.
A career in medicine which she started to pursue but could not complete sighting health complications is among the jobs that women in her social class went for as a result of the prestige which it was associated with. Other prestigious careers were those of legal studies and management since they enabled women of those social classes to defend and look after their family’s processions.
Individuals like Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt did not need to work. Discuss the factors that led to their choices of careers in public service?
Having emanated from a wealthy background, individuals like Gifford Pinchot indeed needed not to work since they had more than they would ever need. It is, however, quite evident that what made him plunge into public service was to try and undo the damage that his family’s business endeavor had done to the land.
His decision was also influenced by the fact that his father, who had made so much money out of lumbering and land speculation, instilled a culture of conservation in him from a tender age and even insisted that he become a forester. Studying at the Yale school of forestry also informed his decision to get involved in public service since he had endowed himself with the necessary skills to enable him to serve in the department of agriculture, especially in the forestry division quit quite adequately.
The first eight years of the 1900s were known as the heyday of conservation and progressivism. Why?
After a century marked by rapid industrialization and environmental degradation, it was hence necessary to rectify those flaws so as to have a friendlier environment. The quick campaign for ecological conservation, which was championed during the first eight years of 1900, contributed to its being christened the heyday of protection. Environmentalists like Pinchot vouched for the use of more friendly industrialization techniques so as to conserve the environment. Better forestry methods that were introduced, especially to private developers during this period, can also be said to have contributed to the naming of this period (Nash 289).
This period was also marked by active progressivism as a result of the pace with which environmentally-conscious practices both in the domestic and industrial fields were being adopted. The increasing number of experts who graduated from universities with credible expertise, especially in the field of agriculture and even forestry, also helped to enhance progressivism during this period since they employed their expertise in the area, and hence their contribution cannot be ignored (Nash 314).
The establishment of the society of American foresters in 1900 contributed quite significantly towards the naming of this period as the heyday of conservation and progressivism. This is because club played a vital role in shaping the legislation which governed the use of public land. The introduction of more credible and professional modes of governance in this sector, which were championed by Pinchot, also produced good results.
In conclusion, it is hence safe to attest to the assertion that the contributions of the individuals I have mentioned in this essay contributed quite significantly to shaping the future of the world’s most excellent economy.
Works Cited
Nash, Roderick, and Gregory, Graves. From These Beginnings:8th Edition. New York: Pearson Inc, 2005. Print.