The Age of the Automobile [ushistory.org] (2024)

FAQs

What is the importance of the automobile in American history how did cars change America? ›

The automobile changed many things in the United States. These included changes for industry and technology and everyday life. Automobile manufacturing became one the first industries to use the assembly line. The automobile gave people more personal freedom and access to jobs and services.

More specifically, the Lynds found that the automobile had such effects as the following: (1) family budgets had changed dramatically; (2) ministers complained that people drove their cars rather than going to church; (3) parents were concerned that their boys and girls were spending too much time together "motoring"; ...

Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29 January 1886, and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved—with the first long-distance trip in August 1888, from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back—that the horseless coach was capable of extended travel.

Effects of the Automobile

Freedom of choice encouraged many family vacations to places previously impossible. Urban dwellers had the opportunity to rediscover pristine landscapes, just as rural dwellers were able to shop in towns and cities. Teenagers gained more and more independence with driving freedom.

The automobile gave people more personal freedom and access to jobs and services. It led to development of better roads and transportation. Industries and new jobs developed to supply the demand for automobile parts and fuel. These included petroleum and gasoline, rubber, and then plastics.

The rapid expansion of the automobile industry created jobs throughout the country and played a large role in sustaining the economic prosperity of the 1920s. In 1929, at the peak of the decade's economic boom, there were more than 330,000 people employed at automobile dealerships in the country.

Cars revolutionized American life. They eased the isolation of rural families and let more people live farther from work. A new kind of worker, the auto commuter, appeared. Other forms of urban transportation, such as the trolley, became less popular.

Answer. The automotive industry made a major impact In the 20s because it created many jobs between the assembly lines,building roads and drilling for oil and gasoline.

Employment and consumption habits. The development of the car has contributed to changes in employment distribution, shopping patterns, social interactions, manufacturing priorities and city planning; increasing use of cars has reduced the roles of walking, horses and railroads.

The oldest running car in the world is La Marquise, an 1884 model made in France. It has a steam engine and three wheels. The car was entered in an 1887 exhibition race from Paris to Versailles.

What is the golden age of the automobile? ›

By 1950, most factories had made the transition to a consumer-based economy, and more than 8 million cars were produced that year alone. By 1958, there were more than 67 million cars registered in the United States, more than twice the number at the start of the decade.

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. In July 1886 the newspapers reported on the first public outing of the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motor Car, model no. 1.

Affordable automobiles

New possibilities of mobility opened up in the 1920s for a large percentage of the US population. Once a luxury item, cars became within reach for many more consumers as automobile manufacturers began to mass produce automobiles.

Yet the automobile did reduce travel time, did reduce rural isolation, did increase life's pleasures, did a lion's share of boosting the economy. In the 1920s, as never before, the automobile became a must-have item for the successful American, and it was changing everything.

Before the invention of trains and automobiles, animal power was the main form of travel. Horses, donkeys, and oxen pulled wagons, coaches, and buggies. The carriage era lasted only a little more than 300 years, from the late seventeenth century until the early twentieth century.

Increased automobile ownership was just one example of Americans' rising standard of living. Real per capita earnings soared 22 percent between 1923 and 1929 even as work hours decreased. In 1923 U.S. Steel cut its daily work shift from 12 hours to 8 hours.

Americans still largely rely on their car to get to work and back. According to Statista's Global Consumer Survey, 76 percent of American commuters use their own car to move between home and work, making it by far the most popular mode of transportation.

The automobile and the Interstate became the American symbol of individuality and freedom, and, for the first time, automobile buyers accepted that the automobile they drove indicated their social standing and level of affluence. It became a statement of their personality and an extension of their self-concepts.