Faces of America

Recently our class finished watching the first episode of Faces of America. In this video Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores and researches the history of twelve outstanding individuals. A few people seen throughout the video are: Yo-Yo Ma, Eva Longoria, and Meryl Steep. With the help of Henry, these celebrities trace their family history and become enlightened with facts that they never knew. For example, Yo-Yo Ma who know little going into his meeting with Mr. Gates, came out with completely new knowledge about his family lineage. One of his cousins had hidden the Ma family's genealogy tracing back to the year 1217. Watching this particular video made me realize how narrow minded we are as humans. Sometimes we get caught up in dealing with our own agendas and forget where we came from. Its spectacular to think about all the people that came before us in history and in our individual families. If one relationship was altered along my family tree I might not be here right now. In retrospect, this video does a great job of showing how important it is for everyone to learn more about their family lineage. With a little digging, you'll never know what you could find.

America is a country built off of pride, success, and opportunities. As Americans we pride ourselves with being apart of one of the best countries of the world. But how did we get here? How did we become as successful as we are present day? The ones that came before us are accredited with moving along the nation and growing into a success story. Our ancestors, especially immigrant ancestors played a major role in the rise of our nation. They came from all parts of the world with hope and ambition. Many of them had to say goodbye to loved ones, knowing that they'd never be reunited. Others dropped their lives on their cozy farms and moved into industrial parts of the country. They weren't afraid of facing change or starting a new life as long as it would better the lives of their children or next generation. That is why it is important for everyone to take care of our nation now. We have to eliminate debt, build our country up, and vote for whoever we believe will further our nation and preserve it for the ones following us.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford 

(1863-1947)

      Henry Ford was born on June 30th of 1863 in present-day Dearborn, Michigan. As Henry grew up he turned his focus towards becoming a machinist. At age seventeen began pursuing his career in mechanics. Ford was an apprentice for three years and in 1891 became an engineer of Edison Illuminating Company Ford soon became the Chief Engineer of the E.I.C. and started preforming experiments and creating internal combustion engines. His first success was the Quadricycle, a two-speed fully functioning automobile. From there, Henry went on to create the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and later produced the Model T. By 1918 half of the car on the road were Ford's, showing that his hard work was finally paying off. His goal was to produce "reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient cars" for the public. Today he is known as one of America's leading business men

    I admire Henry Ford for his accomplishments and his strive for success. Although he is a controversial figure  in history I feel like everything he did was to better his company. One thing Ford did involved his social department, they would look into prospective employees actives outside of work. By determining their habits such as drinking or gambling issues Henry was able to weed out those that didn't fit his company. Some people might think this was a drastic way to figure out who was suitable, but I believe Ford was very protective of his company. Afterall, he spent many years building his company up and didn't want to risk all of his hard work. As far as employees went, Ford wanted serious, focused individuals that would better his company. 

links:  

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp#childhood

http://www.biography.com/people/henry-ford-9298747