History of Automobile Industry in Michigan Essay

History of Automobile Industry in Michigan - Essay Example South-east Michigan comprises the population of 4.9 million people with the economic footprint extending well beyond the geographical parameter of south-east Michigan and the city of Detroit. Automobile production including the production of its components has spread beyond the geographical boundaries of Michigan encompassing southern state and southern Ontario. The automobile industry has the rich history embedded in the growth of the industrial organization and syndicalism, having a closed link with the history of the United Auto Workers. The versatility and socio-politic dynamism and the organized labor movements had been responsible for laying the grounds for the development of the strong automobile industry. The transport itself had its most crucial role in the growth of the automobile industry. Michigan’s location towards the Western frontier without the flow of the natural rivers and the need to reach the potential markets of fur, iron and copper ore, lumber, and agricu ltural products without natural rivers gave the impetus to develop the cheap and best transportation alternatives. Earlier the only means of transportation were ships across â€Å"Lakes Huran and Erie to eastern markets and from the Upper Peninsula via Lakes Michigan and Superior.† The shipping was greatly developed over the Great Lakes, which was connected to Michigan’s hardwood forests, which in turn led to the building of the shipbuilding firms. The increase in the growth of the lumbering also led to the expansion of the railroad network throughout Michigan. Helped by the federal and land grants, this network was completed by the late nineteenth century and by the year 1900, approximately more than 6,900 miles of track crossed Michigan.