CHAPTER IV
THE DEMAND FOR IRON AND COPPER IN THE
UNITED STATES, I86O-I96O
Although iron, copper, and steel were mutually
important to new kinds of production after i860, their
stories, in some respects, are more conveniently told
separately.
As we have said, in i860 iron and steel output
was small and markets were limited chiefly to railroads.
Between i860 and 1880 both situations changed substan
tially. First, iron and steel production grew very
rapidly, not only absolutely but also in relation to
other industries. Pig iron production increased almost
fivefold, from 920 thousand short tons in i860 to 4.3
million short tons, and steel production showed a
tenfold increase, from 11.8 thousand long tons to 1.2
million long tons;1 increases that established the
production of iron and steel and their products in third
place among all manufactures in 1880 with a gross value
of products of $659 million, exceeded by food and
^Historical Statistics, pp. 365-66, Series M 207
p. 4l6, Series P 203. The excess of pig iron over steel
production for 1880 illustrates the continued importance
of iron relative to steel at that time.
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