By 1927, Henry Ford controlled the most important company in the most important industry in the booming American economy. His plain American bargain of high wages in exchange for hard work attracted tens of thousands of workers to Detroit, but it began to come apart when he hired a private police force to speed up production and spy on employees. After the Depression hit in 1929, these workers faced a new, grim reality as unemployment syrocketed and machine guns barred the entrances to Ford's plants.