We remember Henry Ford as the self-propelling mogul who perfected assembly seam technology , but he also dabbled in challenging social programs , including one in which he hired ex - convicts straight out of Sing Sing to staff his factories . Although many of these efforts were successful , Ford ’s ill - fated raid into the Brazilian hobo camp was a notable and engrossing exception .
The Plan
If you ’re going to make million of cars , you ’re going to need an awful draw of rubber . In 1927 , Ford came up with a novel program : he ’d solve his safety job and essay out his lofty hypothesis about societal provision . If everything went well , he could craft both a Zion full of hefty , productive workers and a direct pipeline of sought after rubber to Detroit .
Ford approached the task with characteristic zeal . He babble out the Brazilian government into give him 10,000 square km of Din Land in the Amazon rain forest " “ a plot that was well-nigh twice as big as the state of Delaware - in substitution for a nine - per centum cut of the plantation ’s winnings . In theory , this setup seemed like one of Ford ’s ideas that would stir out passably well , and in 1928 , Ford sent a lighter full of supplies from Michigan down to his Modern plantation Ithiel Town , which was dub " Fordlandia . “
Growing Rubber in the Jungle
Unfortunately for Ford ’s shareholder , though , the captain of diligence did n’t always have a expectant eye for detail . ( One famous story about Ford was that he disliked accountants so fiercely that he never had his ship’s company audited . By the death of his tenure , the Ford Motor Company allegedly had no musical theme exactly how much it cost to build a railcar . ) Ford did n’t check to see if the plantation was suited for growing rubber . grant to Greg Grandin , source ofFordlandia : The wage increase and Fall of Henry Ford ’s Forgotten Jungle City , Ford never consulted any form of expert on safety cultivation ; he just sent a bunch of supplies and managers into the jungle hope to grow some rubber .
Ford was legendarily contemptuous of experts , but he could have saved some serious cabbage if he ’d just hire a adviser to evidence him that the grove was n’t at all desirable for grow rubber . The country was n’t very fertile , but that was n’t the main problem . The real trouble was that it ’s practically unacceptable to farm condom in a plantation setting in the Amazon rain forest . To get the Tree on a commercial ordered series , you ’ve get under one’s skin to pack them in fairly close together , and at that item they become incredibly susceptible to blight and insect attacks . Fordlandia ’s trees were no exception , and Caterpillar and blight speedily decimate the field . [ Images courtesy ofFordlandia.com . ]
Not Exactly a Worker’s Paradise
plainly , the rubber - production part of the Fordlandia got off to a rocky start . How was the " worker ’s paradise" part of things expire , though ? Even more abysmally . The American managing director and their families that Ford imported from Michigan were n’t accustomed to the swelter Brazilian heat and headed back north with an alarming frequency . The operose machinery used on the grove left thick ruts in the gentle soil , which collected moribund water and became raising earth for malaria - tantalize mosquito .
Ford had assay to contrive Fordlandia like any American townspeople , complete with schools , restaurants , a golf course , and shops . The catch here , though , was that the indigenous Brazilians who farmed the rubber were n’t used to experience in a conventionalised American community . bad still , the plantation ’s worker were expected to lick a rigorous shift from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. , whereas normal harvesting practices in the realm saw workers hit the fields before dayspring , take a long break , and then head out again at nightfall to save themselves the miserableness of puzzle out in the tropical midday heat .
Food Fights
Worse still , Ford ’s influence stretch out all the way down to the resident physician ' diets , and while the indigenous workers were n’t crazy about get to eat American foods , they were livid about having to corrode in a cafeteria setting rather than enjoying the homestyle meal to which they were accustom . Eventually , the workers decided they ’d had enough of the insult of cafeteria dining and rioted during a meal .
As the American managers fled to the safety of boats, the workers destroyed their mess hall and continued to riot until Brazilian soldiers came in to suppress violence.
Another sticking degree for the worker was Ford ’s insistence that his model community be exclusively barren of alcohol and tobacco . Although forbiddance was n’t exactly an unentitled winner at home , and although alcoholic beverage was still legal in Brazil , Ford appease firm on his booze ban . Workers who require a drunkenness were forced just outside the city terminus ad quem to buy a bottle of cachaca ; enterprising hard liquor salesman could simply totter by on the river and unload their merchandise .
End of the Road
finally , even though Henry Ford steadfastly insisted that the community could thrive and help introduce American - style industrialization to the sleep of the world , it became profusely clear that the noble Fordlandia experimentation was a flop . After the flawlessness of man-made rubber in 1945 , Ford sold the plantation at a $ 20 million red and left Brazil .
Just how much of a fiasco was the Fordlandia experimentation ? Although Ford spent 17 years seek to produce rubber eraser on the plantation , no Ford car ever rolled off the assembly telephone circuit with a single bit of Fordlandia ’s rubber in it .
Note : Server migration workweek continues , so forgive us for reposting a few oldies / goodies . This article was originally put out in 2009 .
