What does a car have to do with freedom?

Today, there are more vehicles than adults in the USA. Cars let people travel farther and faster. But the story of the automobile is about far more than transportation. It’s about one of the greatest expansions of our freedom to choose.

One of the main heroes in our story is an American entrepreneur. His name? Henry Ford.

Ford did not invent the automobile. What he did was revolutionize its production. In 1913, Ford introduced the moving assembly line. The process dramatically reduced manufacturing costs. Suddenly, an automobile was no longer a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy.

A car became something an ordinary working family could aspire to own. That achievement transformed the United States and, eventually, much of the world. Before the assembly line, the big cities were drowning in tons of horse manure. Ford saved us from that hellish stink and accompanying diseases.

Before the automobile, most Americans lived within a small geographic area. Their opportunities were constrained by walking and horse riding distance, or railroad schedules. Where you lived often determined where you worked, how you shopped, and even whom you married.

The fast, comfortable, affordable, durable, and reliable automobile shattered those limits.

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