Ford's Assembly Line and Worker Conditions

Ford’s Assembly Line Production and Worker Turnover

• Ford implemented a model of mass production using an assembly line to produce automobiles.
• The assembly line model helped to improve efficiency and speed up production, but the demanding pace of the assembly line led to fatigue and injuries amongst workers.
• Ford employed thousands of workers with the promise of $5 per day, a good wage for the time, in an effort to increase production capacity and prevent strikes.
• The working conditions at Ford were demanding, and many workers struggled to keep up with the assembly line's pace.
• The high turnover rate at Ford was a direct result of workers being injured or exhausted from working at such a fast pace.

Progressive Reforms

• The goals of scientific management can be contrasted with those of other progressive reforms, such as the elimination of child labor.
• Advocates of scientific management focused on increasing efficiency and productivity, while reformers focused on protecting workers and ensuring a fair wage.
• Supporters of scientific management sometimes argued that child labor helped to lower wages for all workers.

Images of Child Labor

• Photographer Lewis Hine documented child labor practices and worked to bring attention to them with his photography and writing.
• Hine was a successful photographer, using his skills to document child labor and advocate for reforms.
• Hine developed clever tactics to gain access to locations for his photography, like learning the schedule of managers to photograph children during lunch breaks.

Child Labor Legislation

• The Keating-Owen Act of 1916 prohibited the transportation of goods produced with child labor across state lines, but it was declared unconstitutional two years later because it interfered with state regulation of labor.
• Reformers were able to successfully enact legislation to ban child labor and set maximum working hours in most states.

Limiting Working Hours: Muller v. Oregon

• Supreme Court case Muller v. Oregon in 1908 ruled in favor of limiting working hours for women to protect them from exploitation.
• The court argued that women were more vulnerable economically than large corporations, and the government had a responsibility to ensure their well-being.

Roosevelt’s Progressive Ideals

• Theodore Roosevelt believed in a stronger federal government to intervene on behalf of workers, particularly in situations where states were unable to protect them from corporate abuse.
• Roosevelt advocated for a "Square Deal," which involved a series of reforms.
• He believed that the government should intervene in the economy to ensure fair competition and protect consumers from monopolies.
• Roosevelt believed that the government should be responsible for the well-being of its citizens, particularly those who were vulnerable or exploited.

Roosevelt and Trustbusting

• Roosevelt took action to break up trusts, especially those that used unfair business practices to stifle competition.

Roosevelt and Conservation

• Roosevelt believed in conservation and saw the value of protecting natural resources for the future.
• Roosevelt established national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and forest reserves to protect the environment and conserve natural resources.
• He appointed Gifford Pinchot as head of the U.S. Forest Service, who promoted a scientific approach to managing public lands.
• Roosevelt supported the use of federal funds to develop irrigation projects, which led to the creation of the Roosevelt Dam and other water-management infrastructure.

Roosevelt and Civil Rights

• Although Roosevelt expressed concern for the well-being of workers and the environment, he did not support civil rights for African Americans.
• Roosevelt was a product of his time and shared the views of many progressives about racial issues.
• Roosevelt did appoint some individual African Americans to positions, often in defiance of white opposition.