by Jesus Patino
Emergence Of The Automobile
A 1924 Model T assembly line.
In 1908 Henry T. Ford produced what is known as the Model T also known as the “Tin Lizzie” (“Model T.”) with a goal in mind to sale it at the lowest price possible. By 1916 Henry T. Ford’s goal was met, and the Model T sold for $345. During the years 1913 and 1927, more than 15 million Model T’s were sold.
Naval Radio Station from 1904
How boring would it be to drive without a radio? The answer is that it probably wouldn’t be so entertaining or lively for that matter. But thanks to mass communication and massive industrialization, we have radios. In 1920 the very first commercial radio station was set up,
“On Nov. 2, 1920, it became the world’s first commercial radio station. Davis, himself, stood before the microphone on that historic day to read the results of the presidential elections.” (“The First Commercial Radio Station.”)
and by 1922 about 200 were set up. The radio was revolutionary and even contributed to the navy during WW1 and later WW2.
Federal Trade Commission
2011 Federal Trade Commission Building
On September 26, 1914 Woodrow Wilson founded the Federal Trade Commission by signing the Act into Law. This protected consumers from Trust practices such as coercive monopolies that would prevent competitors and deliberately raise prices for consumers.
Railroads
The USRA or United States Railroad Association took control of the rails around the start of World War I and returned the railroads back to private ownership around 1920. During World War I railroads were extremely useful in aiding the US. By transporting American Expeditionary Force equipment across the nation from coast to coast, supplies could be transported faster.
Congress And Roads
A Picture of Congress…
In 1907, Wilson v. Shaw allowed congress to develop and manage the construction of roads due to the right that congress already had to regulate interstate commerce. In turn, congress decides to set aside $500,000 for the experimental project of roads.
1915-1917 Acts
A Highway…
The Federal Aid Road Act, also known as the largest construction project at the time, emerged in 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the act. Because of the Progressive attitude that society had towards the government, people sought the government to solve the problem of crappy roads.
http://imgkid.com/keating-owen-act.shtml
The Keating-Owen Act was an act that attempted to address the terrible child labor issue during 1916 and that had been a problem since the start of big business and industrialization. The following is a quote from the article “Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (1916)”
“Social reformers began to condemn child labor because of its detrimental effect on the health and welfare of children. Among those helping to incite public opinion against it were Karl Marx and Charles Dickens, who had worked at a factory himself at age 12.” (“Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (1916).”)
As one can see, as this quote displays, the needs people felt for reform and the expectations that people had on the government to solve issues as such were highly noted and often put into action. Much like the amendment that was later made to the constitution, after much hassle, in order for child labor laws to be passed.
– Bradley, Luther. Chicago Daily News, August 30, 1916
The Adamson Act was passed in 1916 to calm a strike composed of 400,000 railroad workers. It set the eight hour working day for railroad workers and allowed decent wages for the workers as well. Due to the war, this act had a positive effect on minority groups such as blacks and women, who took part in working on the railroads. This act avoided a potentially social and economic disaster, and helped guide the country for the following war.
Navy/World War 1
During World War 1 Europe had gotten more technologically advanced in naval warfare. In 1917 when the US had first entered World War 1, the navy had 48 submarines in commission. When it came to training the US navy began to adapt and followed the British by giving the Executive Officer the job of depth and speed management in order to allow the Commanding Officer better control in managing the attack. The Allies were able to sink 18 of the German U-boats out of the total 178 the Germans had.
The Allies, however, had developed a shoot-on-sight protocol and sometimes there would end up being blue-on-blue situations, what we might call friendly fire. When living in the submarines annoyances such as non-controlled temperatures and non favored lighting conditions occurred often as William S. Sims a winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1921 states in The Victory At Sea:
WW1-Photograph—Admiral-William-S-Sims,-Commander-of-US-Naval-Forces-in-Europe
“ The close atmosphere, heavily laden also with the smell of oil from the engines and the odors of cooking, and the necessity of going for days without a bath or even a wash added to the discomfort… One could hardly write, for it was too cold, or read, for there was little light; and because of the motion of the vessel, it was difficult to focus one’s eyes on the page.”
-William S. Sims
World War 1 Airplanes
Although the Wright brothers built and flew the first plane in 1903; the use of the airplane, along with it’s advancement, stalled until the war in 1914. During the war Americans used the French and British military planes, because the U.S. had none. America advanced it’s air industry more during 1925 and later, because the Air Commerce Act of 1926 finally started to provide federal funds to aid the plane’s advancement.
Conclusion
In summation, innovations in transportation and the many uses imposed upon the various devices of travel have allowed us to accomplish a great deal as a country and had allowed us to become one of the great world powers. Transportation had also allowed us to expand the workforce towards blacks and women, regardless of Woodrow’s segregation policies.
Works Cited
“The First Commercial Radio Station.” – WPI. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. <http:/