Progressive Era to New Era

1900-1929

1900-1929: Library of Congress

The early 20th century was an era of business expansion and progressive reform in the United States. The progressives, as they called themselves, worked to make American society a better and safer place in which to live. They tried to make big business more responsible through regulations of various kinds. They worked to clean up corrupt city governments, to improve working conditions in factories, and to better living conditions for those who lived in slum areas, a large number of whom were recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Many progressives

A common myth is that Henry Ford invented the automobile. This is not true. While he may not have invented the automobile, he did offer a new way of manufacturing a large number of vehicles. This method of production was the moving assembly line.
The most common feature of this assembly line was the conveyer belt. The belts were in use within other industries, including slaughterhouses. Moving the product to the worker seemed like a better use of time and resources. The Ford Motor Company team decided to try to implement the moving assembly line in the automobile manufacturing process.

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