Why the Road Trip Feels American
While the first long-distance car journey took place in Germany, it was in America that the concept of the road trip took hold. Read more about its history then discuss with your team: why is the idea of the road trip so associated with America even when other places also have expansive road systems? Is it because the country lacks trains and buses?
In August 1888 Bertha Benz took her husband's experimental car 106 km to her mother's without telling him, cleared a blocked fuel line with a hatpin, and bought petrol at a pharmacy.
Key concepts
- Mobility as Freedom
- The habit of treating movement itself as liberty — going west, hitting the road — so that in American usage 'progress' and 'getting somewhere else' slowly became the same idea.
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Every work — at a glance
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The first long-distance car journey, made in 1888 as an unauthorised publicity stunt by the inventor's wife, who repaired the machine as she went and told him to add a lower gear for hills.
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What to know
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01
Yes, partly — the trains really are missing. Intercity passenger rail in the United States is thin, the distances are enormous and fuel is cheap, so for most of the country a long journey means a car whether or not anybody feels romantic about it.
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Across subjects
Theme connection
"Are We There Yet?"
Practice — a sample
SOCSomeone who believes the car sold 'freedom of the road' as a myth would point to —
- A Forced car dependency
- B Long road trips
- C Convertible ads
- D Empty scenic highways
- E Fast sports cars
Sign in to answer and see why each option is right or wrong.
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