Greg Grandin makes it clear that Henry Ford was not a man with admirable qualities. He hated his own son, displayed anti-semitism, hired criminals to run his factories, and longed for a utopia where he could impose his beliefs and values on those who relied on his factories for employment. Even though he never visited Fordlandia, his commanding, controversial personality influenced every aspect of the project. Grandin’s writing style was effective in making history read as a story, but the amount of details and information he provided could be overwhelming at times.
At the time, rubber, a much needed commodity in industry, predominantly came from foreign countries, and American businessmen could not control its production. Henry Ford did not like this lack of control, and considered growing his own rubber in the Florida Everglades, in order to stay independent and self-reliant. Along with his project in the Everglades, Ford had dreams of creating an American Utopia, or as he called it, a “city in the valley” which would be powered by hydroelectricity and citizens could have “one foot in agriculture and one in industry.” Unable to …show more content…
97) So, Ford treated the mission as one to civilize natives and build an ideal society by paying workers decent wages, teaching them thrift, good nutrition, and proper hygiene. The mission was very poorly executed and environmental factors were seemingly ignored. The rubber trees spread disease among themselves and their predators were overlooked, a botanist would have been able to help Ford plan and build the tree farms. The climate was another major factor that Ford seemingly ignored. Concrete houses absorbed sunlight, making living and working in the heat extremely difficult. All in all, Fordlandia may have seen success if Ford asked the right people for