During the early 1800s and late 1900s, the United States underwent huge economic and
technological changes. The development of a
society that relied on free enterprise and
innovation led to new inventions and increasingly
efficient businesses. These changes helped
make the United States one of the world's
strongest economies and industrial centers.
From Thomas Edison's light bulb to Henry Ford's
affordable automobiles to Frederick Taylor's
time-study analysis, US innovations influenced
business, industry, and technology in the United
States throughout the 1900s and into the
present. How does the business environment
and technological innovation in the modern
United States resemble the United States during
the late 1800s and early 1900s? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of the US culture of
innovation throughout history and today?