The automobile is clearly the most obsequious symbol of the Industrial Revolution in America. It touches on many of the key themes of the American ethos. The car represents freedom to go where you want, when you want, at the speed that you want. For young people, it symbolizes a coming of age and the initial entry into adulthood.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/reader_rides/1267296.html
Cars are valued often for their performance, which is tied to power -- another key theme of the American ethos. Perhaps most importantly, the car is the strongest purveyor of individualism and consumerism. There is a car to suit every lifestyle and every unique personality...and if it hasn't been made, it can certainly be customized. It is in this ultimate freedom of choice that the car becomes a neccessity in American culture.
Becoming a car owner is a lifestyle in and of itself that requires the buyer to make a commitment -- to buying the fuel to keep it going, to maintaining it, and sometimes modifying it either to improve performance, fuel mileage, ergonomics, or aesthetics. But more that this, the car is the gateway greater consumer access. It gets you to the mall so you can buy more things that you need. It allows you to visit far away places on your timetable. It simplifies your day by getting you to work on your schedule. It opens doors of romance by making its owner seem more desirable or somehow more worldly than a rival. It creates social cliques of people who share a common lifestyle choice -- for example... the automotive enthusiast.
The car is the most tangible individual convenience of the industrial revolution. It is the artery through which the symbiosis between the individual need for more consumer goods and industry's need for more consumption in order to grow meets.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Moving On
We are now embarking on the last part of the course, which will combine the essay writing requirement with a coverage of material post 1865. You have been asked to make use of the chapter titles in the textbook as a guide and timeline of sorts.
Here I will provide you with a more general overview of how this long list of eras can be shortened based on a few major overarching issues. To begin, note that to a significant degree after 1865, and moreover after 1877, the emphasis of American history shifts from a more inward looking and parochial view to an outward looking, global view.
The Civil War itself has many global influences. In Canada, it is a major factor leading to Confederation, as the original four provinces fear American aggression in light of the fact that the Union army is well trained, heavily armed, battle tested, and with little else to occupy itself. British subjects in the provinces suspected that the American Manifest Destiny ethic would inevitably lead to a northern invasion. Confederation would allow the individual colonies to provide for a unified defense.
When the CSS Virginia (USS Merrimack) and the USS Monitor blazed cannon at each other in the first naval battle of ironclads, it marked the obsolescence of every other navy in the world. This battle served to highlight the growing influence of the industrial era and the technologies that it would cultivate. The world was changing quickly. Even Robert E. Lee's brilliance and the valor of his Army of Northern Virginia would not be able to overcome the power of industry.
The signing of the armistace between the Confederate States of America and the United States signified the end of the agrarian era and the beginning of an industrial explosion which not only defeated the South but would propel the United States to the forefront of political, economic, and military superiority worldwide. This industrial expansion helped to ferment many of the principles and conventions that we hold true today regarding American culture.
In the post Civil War era and particularly in the beginning of the 20th century, industrial development led to large scale economic expansion. Mass production provided the ability to meet the needs of a large number of people in a relatively short space of time. Massive markets were required to increase output and ultimately the profitability of value added goods. The more people bought and the more people who bought things, the stronger and wealthier the nation could become. This naturally gives rise to the consumer culture.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-ConsumerCulture.html
http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1305/American-Consumer-RISE-CONSUMER-CULTURE.html
http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000129/html/t129.html
Here I will provide you with a more general overview of how this long list of eras can be shortened based on a few major overarching issues. To begin, note that to a significant degree after 1865, and moreover after 1877, the emphasis of American history shifts from a more inward looking and parochial view to an outward looking, global view.
The Civil War itself has many global influences. In Canada, it is a major factor leading to Confederation, as the original four provinces fear American aggression in light of the fact that the Union army is well trained, heavily armed, battle tested, and with little else to occupy itself. British subjects in the provinces suspected that the American Manifest Destiny ethic would inevitably lead to a northern invasion. Confederation would allow the individual colonies to provide for a unified defense.
When the CSS Virginia (USS Merrimack) and the USS Monitor blazed cannon at each other in the first naval battle of ironclads, it marked the obsolescence of every other navy in the world. This battle served to highlight the growing influence of the industrial era and the technologies that it would cultivate. The world was changing quickly. Even Robert E. Lee's brilliance and the valor of his Army of Northern Virginia would not be able to overcome the power of industry.
The signing of the armistace between the Confederate States of America and the United States signified the end of the agrarian era and the beginning of an industrial explosion which not only defeated the South but would propel the United States to the forefront of political, economic, and military superiority worldwide. This industrial expansion helped to ferment many of the principles and conventions that we hold true today regarding American culture.
In the post Civil War era and particularly in the beginning of the 20th century, industrial development led to large scale economic expansion. Mass production provided the ability to meet the needs of a large number of people in a relatively short space of time. Massive markets were required to increase output and ultimately the profitability of value added goods. The more people bought and the more people who bought things, the stronger and wealthier the nation could become. This naturally gives rise to the consumer culture.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-ConsumerCulture.html
http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1305/American-Consumer-RISE-CONSUMER-CULTURE.html
http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000129/html/t129.html
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