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Article: Henry Ford's Amazon colony.(COMMENTARY)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- June 4, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Brett M. Decker, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Industrial boom-and-bust cycles have driven the rise and demise of large areas since the Industrial Revolution mechanized the world. Some of the losers in capitalism's big game can be found in the unlikeliest of places - such as the Brazilian jungle.
Up the Tapajos River, a tributary to the mighty Amazon, Henry Ford established a plantation the size of Tennessee to produce rubber for his automobile business, which was the world's largest. As New York University associate professor Greg Grandin explains in Fordlandia, Ford Motor Co. planted its stake in the middle of nowhere, 18 hours by boat from ...