THE BEGINNINGS OF CHEAP STEEL 



Bv Philip W. Bishop 



Other inroitors claimed a part in the inven- 

 tioii of the Bessemer process of making steel. Here, 

 the contemporary discussion in the technical press 

 is re-examined to throw light on the relations of 

 these various claimants to the iron and steel industry 

 of their time, as having a possible connection with 

 the antagonism shown by the ironmasters toward 

 Bessemer' s ideas. 



The Author: Philip W. Bishop /s curator of 

 arts and manufactures. Museum of History and Tech- 

 nology, in the Smithsonian Institution's United 

 States National Museum. 



THK DEVELOPMENT of the world's i)rociuctivc re- 

 sources during the 19th century, accelerated in 

 general by major innovations in the field of power, 

 transportation, and irxiiles, was retarded by the 

 occurrence of certain bottlenecks. One of these 

 affected the flow of suitable and economical raw- 

 materials to the machine tool and transportation 

 industries: in spite of a rapid growth of iron produc- 

 tion, the methods of making steel remained as they 

 were in the previous century; and outputs remained 

 negligible. 



In the decade 1855-1865, this situation w-as com- 

 pletely changed in Great Britain and in Europe 



generally; and when tiie United States emerged from 

 the Civil War, that country found itself in a position 

 to take advantage of the European innovations and 

 to start a [)eriod of growth which, in the next 50 years, 

 was to establish lier as the world's largest producer of 

 steel. 



This study reviews the controversy as to the origin 

 of the process which, for more than 35 years ' pro- 



' From 1870 through 1907, "Bessemer" production ac- 

 counted for not less than 50 percent of United States steel 

 production. From 1880 through 1895, 80 percent of all steel 

 came from this source: Historical Statistics of the United .States 

 1789-1945 (Washington, U. S. Department of Commerce, 

 Bureau of the Census, 1949), Table- J. 165-170 at p. 187. 



28 



BULLETIN 218: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



