Question

. . . [Henry] Ford’s work and the emulation of it by other manufacturers led to the establishment of what could be called an ethos of mass production in America. The creation of this ethos marks a significant moment.... Certain segments of American society looked at Ford’s and the entire automobile industry’s ability to produce large quantities of goods at surprisingly low costs.... When they did so, they wondered why [other goods] could not be approached in precisely the same manner in which Ford approached the automobile.... The ethos of mass production, established largely by Ford, will die a hard death, if it ever disappears completely.”

David A. Hounshell, historian, From the American System to Mass Production, 1984
“The impact of Fordism on the worker was debilitating. The individual became an anonymous, interchangeable robot who had little chance on the job to demonstrate his personal qualifications for upward mobility into the echelons of management. Thus, the American myth of unlimited individual social mobility, based on ability and the ideal of the self-made man, became a frustrating impossibility for the assembly-line worker. As the job became a treadmill to escape from rather than a calling in which to find fulfillment, leisure began to assume a new importance. The meaning of work, long sanctified in the Protestant ethic, was reduced to monetary remuneration. The value of thrift and personal economy became questionable, too, as mass consumption became an inevitable corollary of mass production.”
James J. Flink, historian, The Automobile Age, 1988
b) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development during the period 1890 to 1945 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Hounshell’s interpretation.
c) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development during the period 1890 to 1945 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Flink’s interpretation.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

b) One specific historical event or development during the period 1890 to 1945 that could be used to support Hounshell's interpretation is the rise of labor unions and the subsequent struggles for workers' rights. The establishment of mass production methods allowed for the exploitation of workers and the disregard of their individual skills and qualifications. This led to the formation of labor unions, which fought for better working conditions, higher wages, and more opportunities for upward mobility. The Ford Motor Company, in particular, had a reputation for violently suppressing unionization efforts, which supports the idea that individual workers had little chance to demonstrate their personal qualifications for advancement.

c) One specific historical event or development during the period 1890 to 1945 that could be used to support Flink's interpretation is the Great Depression. The economic collapse of the 1930s caused widespread unemployment and financial hardship for many Americans. The assembly-line worker, already suffering from the monotony and dehumanization of their work, was hit particularly hard. The inability to find work or to escape from the "treadmill" of the assembly line reinforced the idea that the meaning of work had been reduced to monetary remuneration. Additionally, the New Deal programs implemented during the Great Depression provided some relief for workers and helped to improve their working conditions and wages, indicating that the previous system of mass production had not been working in their favor.