How has the assembly line positively and negatively affected americas economic growth?
Answer:
The assembly line has impacted the lives of Americans in so many ways.
On the positive side, the assembly allowed production levels to increase, and in a shorter period of time. With a focus on efficiency, workers were able to specialize on manufacturing only one small part of the product, rather than the entire product, so each worker's skill increased significantly, since he or she had less steps to complete. Along with the assembly line comes the association with increased usage of machinery. Machines work much faster than humans, so this also increased production rates. With machines, corporation owners also did not have to hire so many employees, which saved considerable amounts of money. From this increased production, there were more, cheaper goods available for middle and upper class Americans. New inventions developed, such as Henry Ford's automobile, which was constructed on an assembly line. The US economy expanded greatly at this time -- more companies were selling, more people were buying. The rich were certainly getting richer.
However, for the poor it was certainly a different story. There are many negatives associated with the assembly line. Small, local businesses, which were run by the lower and middle classes were shut out of the economy. How can someone who perhaps makes several handmade dresses per day compete with a corporation who can whip them out to accumulate tens of thousands per day? The quality of the product is most likely superior if one buys from the small merchant, but it is much cheaper to buy the mass produced version, which is also much more readily available for the masses.
Besides quality of the products produced being reduced, quality of life for workers was also dramatically decreased. With less need for workers, due to the fact that machines were taking the jobs of the workers, the lower class had a terrible time trying to find jobs. Rather than companies competing to get workers, the workers had to compete against each other to get jobs. Corporations could pay workers to practically slave away 10 hour days in a poorly ventilated factory, which was extremely bad for the health of the employees, for a mere few cents per day. People were desperate though -- there was increased crowding in cities, and people would do anything to survive. The rich and upper middle class may have been getting richer during this time, but the poor were just getting poorer. The discontent of the poor is also seen through the formation of labor unions, later on, and the use of the strike.
The final, long-lasting negative associated with the assembly line is toll on the environment. For many of these new factories, coal was used as the sole means of power, and any waste produced by the factory was simply sent down the river. People during the time didn't really understand the long-lasting effects of pollution, but in the cities the quality of air was certainly noticed.
The assembly line has certainly shaped the US economy today, as we still are based on a system of mass-production, and still have the benefits of this system, yet still suffer from various problems.
More Questions and Answers: