Topic: When did automobiles become an integral part of American culture?
Know: What I know, there are millions of people driving at any given time and almost everyone has a car which is used daily to commute to work, School or whatever purpose the owner sees fit. cars come in all shapes and sizes meant to suit you the consumer best. Nicer cars are even popularized in our culture and considered a sign of success. People get in their car without even an afterthought we just take it for granted that its here to serve us without wondering what we would have done if it did not exist as automobiles are a new invention when compared to the longevity of the planet, think of the thousands of years when the sole mode of transportation was a horse.
Want: What i would like to know is the following; when was the automobile invented and perfected? when did the automobile become preferable and more sensible to own then a horse? When were roads made with cars in mind? how do cars work? What power sources do cars use? When did cars stop becoming a commodity of the rich? when were cars readily available to the general working class? When were traffic laws enacted? when were unpracticle pleasure cars first made? what part did automobiles play in urbanization and the rising popularity of the suburbs? when were cars seen as a means to end rather then the mechanical beauty that they are? when were driving assists created? how safe were cars 60 years ago? are self driving cars the future? these are just some of the questions that need answers in order to begin to understand the significance automobiles play in our society.
Learned: what i learned after 15 minutes of internet research. The origin of the Automobile,the first automobile capable of human transportation was built in 1769 powered by a steam engine, it did not work very well but this was the first car invented. in 1803 the first internal combustion engine (most modern cars have one) was implemented in a car powered by hydrogen (we use gasoline or diesel now) it wasn’t until 1885 that Karl Benz developed a Gasoline powered (petrol) automobile this car largely considered the first production car of Mercedes Benz is when automobiles replacing horses first became a real conversation. in 1908 the Ford model T created by Ford motor company (owned by Henry Ford) began production and would become the first car to become mass produced on an assembly line from 1913-1927 Ford sold over fifteen million Model T’s. Power sources of automobiles consisted of mainly steam engines in early cars (as locomotives were the go to model I am guessing) Electric cars until recently were exceedingly impractical but the first one was made as early as 1828. Gasoline and diesel has been the main power source in cars but now it seems to enviromental concerns that electric will be the sole source of power for cars. the Governor of California has announced that he wants all cars sold there to be powered by electric motors within 15 years. I don’t have enough time to answer the other questions.
Still want to know: I still want to know when cars started improving safety wise. when cars started getting computers in them, statistics on how many people in the country verses cars in the country. and a couple of other questions that will be discussed in the full research essay which i would like to write about shifting the topic to will cars ever become fully autonomous not requiring a drivers attention at all? and if we can eliminate drivers error to stop accidents from happening will it ever become illegal in the future to drive on the basis of saving lives?
Charles, your revised KW/L is excellent, and the research you’ve done here is excellent too, raising many interesting questions that span to today’s development of electric cars. I’m looking forward to reading your paper! Also, your topic question is a good research question.