Interview with William Rorabaugh, Professor of Nineteenth Century US History and US Social History at University of Washington
What is the difference between iron and steel and their origins? The difference between iron and steel is that the molecules are lined up straight in steel, which makes steel harder. Heating and pounding can be used to straighten the molecules by hand to turn small pieces of iron into steel for knives and even swords - Damascus was famous for sword-making a long time ago. It was not possible to make larger pieces of steel for construction, railroads, etc.
How did the Bessemer process affect America at the time? The most important effect of the Bessemer process was to enable RRs to use steel rails, which were much less likely to break. Broken iron rails caused a lot of accidents. Later, steel made skyscrapers possible. Major bridges required steel, too.
What was steel used for before the Bessemer process? Only smaller hand-made steel items existed before the Bessemer process.
What businesses and industries were affected most by the invention of the Bessemer process? Steel made it possible for cities to build up, it made transportationbetter, and it affected all kinds of industries, including automobiles. Trying to burn gasoline in an iron engine probably would not have workedvery well. The heat might have cracked the iron.
What places were affected most by the creation of the Bessemer Process? Cities that had access to iron ore and coal (fuel) became major steel production centers. Pittsburgh was probably the most important, but also Chicago and Birmingham, Alabama grew rapidly as steel use soared.