In the 1840s, guano came to be prized as a source of saltpeter for gun...

In the 1840s, guano came to be prized as a source of saltpeter for gun...

wikipedia - 07 Oct 2015
In the 1840s, guano came to be prized as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder as well as an agricultural fertilizer. The United States began importing it in 1843 through New York. By the early 1850s, the U.K. imported over 200,000 tons a year, and U.S. imports totaled about 760,000 tons. The "guano mania" of the 1850s led to high prices in an oligopolistic market, attempts of price control, fear of resource exhaustion, and eventually the enactment of the Guano Islands Act 1856 in August 1856. The Act enables

Guano Islands Act

In the 1840s, guano came to be prized as a source of saltpeter for gun...

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