The Roaring 20's (Honors History)

The Rise of Automobiles

The 1920’s was certainly an exciting time for America. The economy was fantastic, growing by 7% each year. New and useful technology was springing up left and right, such as steam turbines and electric motors, and money began to be handled in new ways that is known as common place to this day. For example, insurance and home mortgages came into place. Gasoline taxes even started up, with good reason. The automobile was taking over.
According to Nation of Nations, cars were invented at the turn of the century, but were rarely seen and used since they were so expensive. Only the richest of men could afford to own such fine and new pieces of technology. But once the 20’s began, 10 million cars were being driven in America, and by 1929, 26 million were being used. This means that one out of every five people in America had a car. The average American’s income
Henry Ford was a major Automobile manufacturer, and was possible the main person who made automobiles, once toys for the rich, into something that almost everyone could afford. The average American’s income increased by an average of 150 dollars per year for each citizen, and cars were being sold for $290. Selling cars at these low prices made getting a good pay a bit harder for Ford workers, but at the same time changed America completely. Cars became a more commonly used form of transportation, and the use of them has only increased. The Ford Motor Company was of the most popular and successful car companies in America.
But the availability of the automobile caused other issues to happen as well. Minors could get a hold of the cars, and apparently misused them quite often. Nineteen of thirty sex crimes had been committed in cars by young citizens, and that was all it took for a juvenile court judge to claim that automobiles were “prostitution on wheels”. According to Nation of Nations, having cars gave people more freedom from the usual parental authority, which might have helped lead to these outcomes.
But all together, the automobile helped the growth of the economy and became a “transportation revolution” for all of America, replacing many of the uses of railroads for everyone.