The little-known history of an early government intervention in business. In 1856, Congress, believing that American farmers were being gouged on sales of guano (bird droppings used as fertilizer), authorized citizens to claim unowned guano-rich islands around the world. The legacy of this decision is a collection of American territories from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Maps.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Guano, the dried excrement of sea fowl, was one of the most efficacious fertilizers available in the 19th century and was in great demand in America and Europe. Under pressure from American farmers, Congress pased the Guano Act of 1856, which permitted U.S. citizens to claim uninhabited islands in the Caribbean and Pacific for the mining of guano. Skaggs (economics, Wichita State Univ.) views this development as a move toward "activist public economic policy," not "evidence of laissez faire." He describes in detail the history of the guano industry, including the "guano war" of 1852 and the riot of guano workers on Navassa Island in 1889. Skaggs includes much information on the technical side of mining and the occasional drollery: Chapter 11 is entitled "Guano Happens." Recommended for large public and academic libraries.
- W. L. Wuerch, Micronesian Area Research Ctr., Univ. of Guam
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- W. L. Wuerch, Micronesian Area Research Ctr., Univ. of Guam
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence:
Declining agricultural productivity in the United States prior to the Civil War fostered an ever-increasing need for fertilizers. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
guano company, phosphatic guano, denotes mining, guano islands, great guano rush, guano business, great pluck, location claimant, rock guano, ist seas, phosphate company, alleged discoverer, guano trade, island guano, guano companies, guano miners, other international acts, lawful jurisdiction, island murders, equatorial islands, private legislation, congressional globe, fertilizer industry, guano deposits, ist sess Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Guano Act, Great Britain, Alta Vela, Navassa Phosphate, Alfred Benson, Phoenix Guano, San Francisco, Guano Islands Act, Henry Jones, Secretary Seward, President Pierce, Secretary Cass, Secretary Marcy, South Carolina, Daniel Webster, Foreign Relations, South American, Supreme Court, World War, Attorney General Black, Dominican Republic, North Pacific, Department of State New!
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Declining agricultural productivity in the United States prior to the Civil War fostered an ever-increasing need for fertilizers. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
guano company, phosphatic guano, denotes mining, guano islands, great guano rush, guano business, great pluck, location claimant, rock guano, ist seas, phosphate company, alleged discoverer, guano trade, island guano, guano companies, guano miners, other international acts, lawful jurisdiction, island murders, equatorial islands, private legislation, congressional globe, fertilizer industry, guano deposits, ist sess Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Guano Act, Great Britain, Alta Vela, Navassa Phosphate, Alfred Benson, Phoenix Guano, San Francisco, Guano Islands Act, Henry Jones, Secretary Seward, President Pierce, Secretary Cass, Secretary Marcy, South Carolina, Daniel Webster, Foreign Relations, South American, Supreme Court, World War, Attorney General Black, Dominican Republic, North Pacific, Department of State New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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6
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- A Most Damnable Invention: Dynamite, Nitrates, and the Making of the Modern World by Stephen R. Bown on page 149, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- On the Great Plains: Agriculture and Environment (Environmental History Series) by Geoff Cunfer in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen by Joe Jackson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Perverse Economy: The Impact of Markets on People and the Environment by Michael Perelman in Back Matter
- Master Mind: The Rise and Fall of Fritz Haber, the Nobel Laureate Who Launched the Age of Chemical Warfare by Daniel Charles in Back Matter
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