The advancements in transportation through the ages has greatly improved our quality of life and how the world interacts with one another. Since the invention of the wheel in 3200 B.C. the improvements made in the field of transportation have been few and far between. (A Salute to the Wheel) In the past one-hundred years the advancements in transportation have grown exponentially. The invention of the automobile was the first major steps towards globalization. The idea of the assembly line came soon after the automobile, as did the airplane. The inventions and ideas that came about in the past century have drastically changed how people interact with others and the world around them. In the past century and a half, the breakthroughs in technology has allowed for the advancements in transportation to shape society into a tighter world network.

Karl Friedrich Benz (1844-1929) invented the first true automobile in 1885. The invention of the automobile was initially viewed as nothing more than a trinket with no practical use. After the idea for a new kind of transportation was opened, there had been inventors that worked to improve the automobile. Out of all of the inventors to work on the automobile Charles Edgar Duryea (1862-1938) and his brother Frank (1870-1967) where the first to produce a practical automobile. The brothers began producing their automobiles in the united states where their invention quickly gained popularity. (Everyday Mysteries) The automobiles that the Duryea brothers produced were incredibly expensive and were only affordable to the rich and wealthy. The early automobiles were nothing more than badges of wealth that the rich citizens drove around the streets to show off. The unpractical automobile would soon evolve from a sign of social class into a utility that would make the world into a much smaller place.

The mass production of the automobile was a major factor effecting social change in the United States. The automobile was originally too slow and expensive for the average citizen to purchase. Henry Ford realized this, and decided to develop a system that would decrease production time along with production cost. This new innovation was called "the Assembly Line" and forever changed how things are produced. The assembly line made it possible for automobiles to be produced six times faster and three times less expensive to purchase which, in turn, allowed automobiles to be within the reach of the average consumer. The automobile was no longer a sign of wealth separating the social classes. The automobiles from Ford's Assembly line were produced so fast that the Automobile was a widely distributed throughout the united states that it quickly became the most utilized mode of transportation since horseback. The mass production of the automobile had the smallest impact on social interaction, but still was a prerequisite for the innovations that effect social interaction drastically.

The interstate Highway system had a major social effect on the United States.

With a car for the masses, the interstate highway system linked cities around country with paved roads. The highway system allowed people to travel lengthy distances to new places that had use to be unfeasible. The interstate system allowed the average person to climb into the coach of an automobile and travel anywhere in the country. This incredibly drastic change in transportation was a major step towards a worldlier awareness of the people and places that had used to be unreachable. People now traveled to new places and met diverse ranges of people that they would otherwise not have been exposed to. 

The Highway system also improved the simple act of vacationing. Before the Highway system, it would have been an unreasonably journey for a man to take his family on a short vacation from the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina to the beaches of Charleston, South Carolina. This sensible journey of a mere 261 miles might not seem like a notable obstacle in today's point of view, but it would have been a huge ordeal for anybody to consider in the era before the highway system. Before, a journey of this stature would require months out of the year to be set aside for something as miniscule as todays four-hour car ride to the beach. The highway system made it possible for traveling to be a plausible mode of vacation. Before this the idea of "vacation" was only in the vocabulary of the wealthy, whom had the recourses to go on expeditions to new places. Most people who lived further inland from the coast had never even seen the ocean or felt the beach sand between their toes. 

The interstate highway system socially changed the united states into a military minded society. The Interstate highway system was originally built in order to improve the military presence throughout North America. The Interstate system was introduced in the United States in order to provide better defense of the United States homeland by providing means of rapid military mobilization for the United States Military forces. The interstate system optimized the militaries efficiency. This was a critical project for the United States due to the increasing paranoia brought about by the Cold War (1947-1991). The paranoia that manifested during the Cold War was largely due to the modern advancements in weaponry. The United States and the Soviet Union were the two world supper powers with possession of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons were a never before seen weapon that could level entire cities with a single blast. The worry brought by the Cold War was not an unreasonable paranoia. The citizens of the United States knew that a nuclear war would destroy everything in its path. The United States was the first nation to possess the interstate system, in turn giving them the edge that was needed to become the world super power that they are today. The interstate highway system of Missouri in 1956 does not seem like a huge feat in the realm of "social change" but it had powerful underlying factors that progressed the united states into a more closely networked society with a figuratively smaller distance between geographic locations. Because of the interstates; The East, West, North and South are no longer as divided as they once had been.

The commercial airplane has had the greatest effect on social interaction in all of written history. The first airplane was developed in 1903 by the Wright Brothers. Since the first flight on the outer banks, there has been many developments in aviation. Aviation has played a key role in many important world issues since its debut in 1903. These issues include wars, mapping, and urgency. Out of all the benefits of aviation, the most important development of aviation came about in the 1950's. During the 1950's came the arrival of commercial aviation. Commercial aviation was single most important development towards the globalized world that we live in today. The commercial airline allowed for any citizen to board a commercial airline and travel to any location in a fraction of the time that it would take to travel by any other means of transportation. At first, the technology was limited and only allowed for airliners to travel limited distances. As the decade progressed, so did the technology used by the airliners. By 1958 commercial airlines were able to transport people much longer distances. The airplanes had once only been able to travel across the country were now replaced with larger planes that could carry more people for a longer time. The development of the Boeing 707 now allowed commercial air travel to transport people across the oceans. (Timeline of Commercial Air Travel) Commercial airlines had changed what it meant to 

travel internationally. The commercial airline now allowed for the fast travel across the ocean from one continent to another. For a man to journey from New York to London, it would have use to require him to board a ship and take the long ride across the open ocean. The development of transcontinental air travel allowed for that same man to board an airplane and travel to the same destination in less than a day. Commercial air travel had the same effect on the globe as the interstate highway system had on the United States. The intercontinental air travel allowed for the world to suddenly become a much smaller place. Today, aviation is the leading mode of transportation for long distances. More people than ever before are able to travel the world due to commercial aviation. Commercial aviation has made it possible for American businessmen to do business in Hong Kong, for a Swedish family to vacation in Mexico, and for a Spanish student to study in America. Commercial airlines are the spools in the global mixing pot. The world is becoming more and more globally aware. This globalization is largely thanks to commercial airlines their availability to anyone.

Improvements of transportation has had one of the largest effects on social interactions throughout the past one-hundred years. The arrival of new technologies has allowed for means of transportation to improve at a lighting fast pace. The invention of the first automobile and the development of the assembly line was the key to the door that would change social interaction forever. While the automobiles were the key, the interstate highway system opened the door that would bring people closer together through ease of travel. The interstate highway system took the people of the United States and pulled them into a tighter network of people and ideas. The commercial airlines took the entire globe and compressed it into a figuratively smaller place where people from far places were now much closer together.

