Transformation to Steel: How the Bessemer Process Sparked the Industrial Revolution
Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer was born in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England on January 18th, 1813. The son of an engineer, Bessemer was gifted and inventive since childhood. Henry Bessemer gained over 150 patents and inventions throughout his life, which included a machine that embossed stamps on government documents (made by Bessemer at 17), a machine that extracts the juices from sugar cane, as well as the idea of the mortar shell. However, Bessemer's most important innovation was by far the Bessemer process of manufacturing steel. This process brought Bessemer to work with a new group of entrepreneurs, the most important of them being Andrew Carnegie, a railroad tycoon in the US.
He began to share his ideas with his new coworker, and steel soon became the primary railroad material, and most of that steel was made using the Bessemer process. He established a large iron and steel empire with Carnegie, all over the United States and England. Soon enough, the steel industry was so much a part of the United States' economy that the performance of the steel industry was a representation of the national economy - all thanks to Henry Bessemer.
“Bessemer is the father of steel rails, steel frames for skyscrapers, steel
ships, steel cannons, and modern armor plate. His invention gave work to
millions of men.”
Albert Payson Terhune, 1870
“Henry Bessemer estimates that 2,000,000 tons of steel will be made in Europe and
1,000,000 tons in England at a cost of £30,000,000, whereas,
under the old process, it would have cost £150,000,000."
Bessemer Steel, New York Times, Oct 17, 1880
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