Minch 1

Madison Minch
Dr. Martin
HON 100
26th September, 2016
Essay 1: The Ford Manual Narration
The Bartol Family could survive almost anything. After the second failed uprising of the
1800s, though, their chances of getting out of their current situation alive plummeted. Many of
Poland's people were forced to vacate out of their homes their country altogether. Along with
about 20,000 other Poles, the Bartols fled to France where they were able to claim refuge. Once
in Paris, the men of the Bartol family joined others who had been forced out of their homeland
and formed a community in which they could advocate for Polish independence (Ember and
Skoggard 2005).
The Bartols did well in Paris, finding work as textile-workers and earning enough to
support themselves with a small sum of money saved up for a rainy day. Years passed and a new
generation of the family was born in France but the Bartols held on tightly to their Polish roots.
The first-born of this generation was named Casimir. Soon after came two younger sisters and a
younger brother. The Bartol children, who had only ever lived in Paris, were taught the Polish
language before French and practiced the traditions of the country where their parents were born.
When Casimir Bartol reached twenty years of age in the summer of 1910, he discovered a
text written by Alexis de Tocqueville who had travelled to America in 1831. The Frenchman
described the uncharted land in such a way that made it seem practically endless. There were few

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cities mentioned that would clutter the landscapes and the native people seemed to live in
relative harmony with the white men (Tocqueville 1831). Casimir knew that the previously vast
forests were now dotted with cities, but he was intrigued by the concept of seeing how drastically
the New World had changed in the last few decades. He did not mention the idea of traveling to
America to his parents. They wanted him to stay in Paris and continue the family business as a
textile-worker. So Casimir, being the strong-headed young man that he was, decided to keep the
secret to himself and, eventually, leave his home with his plan detailed in a letter that he would
leave in his bedroom. He would leave in the night and when his family would find his letter it
would already be too late to stop him.
After saving all of the money he could spare for a few years (and dipping into a bit of his
parents savings, but no one needed to know about that), Casimir was finally able to afford
transportation to the port city of Le Havre and a third-class ticket on the SS France in April of
1912 (Gjenvick). The ocean liner docked in New York where Casimir was able to find work on
the docks for a short time to replenish his savings before he set out to compare and contrast the
new industrial country and what little wilderness remained to the vast jungle Tocqueville had
written about.
Casimir headed off west in high hopes that he would be able to publish his findings and
make a great profit. The wilderness he had imagined while reading Tocqueville's story had been
practically demolished. There were still forests interspersed between cities but, for the most part,
it seemed as though the entire continent had been industrialized. The wilderness had more or less
been paved over with cities that took on the shape of a grid. There was no organic flow as
Casimir had observed in Paris, but rather, many buildings and houses arranged neatly in squares

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that were, admittedly, easier to navigate (Martelle 2012). He finished writing his article (in
French, of course, as he had yet to learn the English language) but found that, without a common
language with the citizens of America, his work would not appeal to them. He also wrote letters
to his family in France, telling them that he was well and happy living in America. At first, they
were understandably angry, but eventually accepted the fact that they did not have a say in the
matter unless they wanted to purchase a ticket to America just to drag him back across the ocean.
Casimir eventually settled in Detroit, intrigued by the brutal conflicts between the settlers
and the natives he had heard had taken place in Cadillac's fort. It was no longer the "small town
of two or three thousand souls" that Tocqueville had passed through on his way to explore the
rest of the Michigan territory (Tocqueville 1831). When Casimir had arrived there in 1916 it had
grown to hold over 400,000 residents, over a third of whom were foreign born. He settled in
quickly, finding a small apartment to share with other men who came from Poland. Casimir was
happy to be able to converse in his native tongue since he could only ever speak Polish around
his family.
Casimir had been bilingual almost from the moment he started speaking; but he found it
rather difficult to learn another language, especially a language as complicated as English. But
after four years of travelling through the many territories and speaking to the many different
kinds of people the new world had to offer, Casimir was able to piece together a few sentences in
English, just enough for him to land a job without being too much of a burden.
In the now bustling city of Detroit, Casimir set about looking for a new form of
employment. He asked around if anyone knew of a place that would hire. After a few days of
searching he came across a man handing out small pamphlets. When he approached him, the man

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directed him to the Ford Motor Company and handed him a pamphlet entitled "Helpful Hints and
Advice to Employes." Casimir was unable to read the pamphlet for himself but from what he
could discern from his conversation with the man handing them out, Mr. Ford was offering his
workers five dollars for every eight hour workday as long as they met a few requirements. They
even offered a language class for the workers that could not speak English.
Casimir immediately made his way to the factory and applied for a job. He also inquired
about the English classes. He was told when and where the classes met and that he should not be
late as the room tends to fill up rather quickly.

Casimir was settling into the life of a factory worker quite well. During the day he would
spend his time bolting the parts of a wheel together and his nights were occupied by his English
classes. He was able to save most of the money he earned working at the factory and would soon
be able to afford his own room and, hopefully, qualify for Mr. Ford's profit sharing plan.

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He is happy with the decisions that led him to where he is today. He faced many
challenges when he first came to America, the language barrier and racial stigma to name a few,
but he overcame them and was able to carve out a niche in the vast, industrial wilderness that is
known as America.

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Works Cited
Gjenvick, Paul K. "Vintage Brochure - CGT French Line - S.S. France - 1912." CGT French
Line. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.
Parenthetical: (Gjenvick)
Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, and Ian A. Skoggard. Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant
and Refugee Cultures Around the World. New York: Springer, 2005.
Parenthetical: (Ember and Skoggard 2005)
Akhar, Saima. "Immigrant Island Cities in Industrial Detroit." Journal of Urban History 41.2
(2015): 175. ProQuest. Web. 23 Sep. 2016.
Parenthetical: (Ahkar 2015)
Pizzolato, Nicola. "Workers and Revolutionaries at the Twilight of Fordism: The Breakdown of
Industrial Relations in the Automobile plants of Detroit and Turin, 1967-1973." Labor
History 45.4 (2004): 419-443. America: History & Life. Web. 23 Sep. 2016.
Parenthetical: (Pizzolato 2004)
"Adam Laboda, Polish Textile Worker." Interview. Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929. N.p.,
n.d., Web. 23 Sep. 2016.
Parenthetical: (Interview)
Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. Chicago: Chicago Review, Incorporated, 2012. Print.

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Parenthetical: (Martelle 2012)
Tocqueville, Alexis de. A Fortnight in the Wilderness. Delray Beach, FL: Levenger, 2003. Print.
Parenthetical: (Tocqueville 1831)
Kraft, Helen, J. William Gorski, Arthur A. Wagner, Magdalene Wagner, and Irene Richmond.
The Chene Street Story. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Parenthetical: (Kraft)