Despite Henry Ford's belief that "History is more or less bunk.", his accomplishments have had everlasting effects on many aspects of society. His brilliance has revolutionized transportation, industry, and social economics. With his creation of the Model T, the automobile, and transportation infrastructure were revolutionized. The popularity of the Model T lead to the car becoming the primary means of transportation in many countries. Today there are approximately 250 million registered vehicles and over 2,480,000 miles of paved roads in the United States. Ford's implementation of the assembly line made manufacturing the automobile more affordable while increasing production. Today the assembly line is used by a wide range of industries and is considered to have initiated today's consumer culture by decreasing the cost per unit of manufactured goods.
Ford's belief that his workers should get paid a better wage for making his company money and shortening the work day began to lay the foundation for modern day labor laws. Today there are State and Federal laws that govern minimum wage, number of hours in a workweek, and safe work conditions. Ford's increase of the minimum wage of his worker's created a middle class. This allowed his workers to be able to afford the cars that they were building because they had income that could be spent on items other than food, housing, and clothes. Today the majority of the workforce in the U.S. is considered to be middle class making between $35,000.00 to $95,000.00 annually.
100 years later, the inventions of Henry Ford have improved and still influence society today. The Ford Motor Company is still financially stable in tough economic times. They are the only one of the three major American automakers that haven't needed financial assistance from the government. Ford’s contributions have improved the quality of daily life for everyone, whether we realize it or not. Henry Ford is truly a part of American history with a world wide impact.
"There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." - Henry Ford
