The American Coal Industry 1790–1902, Volume II

Making Coal a Household Name, 1835-1875

Sean Patrick Adams

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781138757653
• eBook ISBN: 9781040251386
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The emergence of coal-based fuel economy over the course of the nineteenth century was one of the most significant features of America's Industrial Revolution, but the transition from wood to mineral energy sources was a gradual one that transpired over a number of decades. The documents in these volumes recreate the institutional history of the American coal industry in the nineteenth century - providing a first-hand perspective on the developments in regard to political economy, business structure and competition, the rise of formal trade unions, and the creation of a national coal trade. Although the collection strives to be wide-ranging in region and theme, the Pennsylvania anthracite coal trade forms the thematic backbone as it became the most important American mineral resource to see successful development throughout the nineteenth century. Consequently it saw unprecedented levels of intervention by the federal government. The texts for this collection were selected for their accessibility to modern readers as well as their relationship to a series of common themes across the nineteenth century American coal industry - with headnotes and annotations provided to explain their context and the reasons for their inclusion. The second volume, following on from the first, traces the continuation of the anthracite boom and also introduces new concerns for the coal industry. Overall the period from 1835-1875 saw the American coal trade expand from a hit-or-miss business dominated by risk-taking proprietary firms to a well-funded industry that employed the resources of state governments, large mining corporations and powerful railroads in order to keep a steady stream of mineral fuel flowing to the growing industrial and commercial heating markets of the United States. The transformation generated many conflicts - which are illustrated by the documents in this volume.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Contents of the Edition
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Denison Olmsted, ‘Observations on the Use of Anthracite Coal’, in The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1837 (1837)
• Caleb Cushing, ‘Article X. The Anthracite Coal Trade of Pennsylvania’, North American Review (1836)
• William Williams Mather, Report on the Geological Reconnaissance of Kentucky, Made in 1838 (1839), extract
• [Charles Ellet], An Address to the Stockholders of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, in Reply to a Pamphlet Circulated by the Reading Rail Road Company (1844)
• Isaac Lea, Report to the Directors of the Pequa Railroad and Improvement Company (1849)
• Is Coal Mining a Safe Investment Bet?
• ‘A Correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce’, ‘Visit to a Coal Mine’, Hunt’s Merchant Magazine (1854)
• David Thomas Ansted, ‘The Ohio and Kanawha Valleys, and the Coal Basin of the Kanawha’, in Scenery, Science and Art (1854)
• Herman Haupt, The Coal Business on the Pennsylvania Railroad. A Communication Addressed to the President, Directors, and Stockholders of the Pennsylvania Railroad, on the Cost of Transportation (1857)
• Little Rock Mining Company, A Statement of the Operations of the Little Rock Mining Co. in the La Salle Coal Basin. Cheap Fuel for Chicago and the North-West (1858)
• Volney L. Maxwell, Mineral Coal. Two Lectures, by Volney L. Maxwell, Esq., Read at Institute Hall, Wilkes-Barre, Penna, in February, 1858 (1869)
• Eli Bowen, Coal and the Coal Trade (1862)
• ‘Stockholders of the Consumers’ Mutual Coal Co.’, The Consumers Mutual Coal Company (1864)
• ‘The Boatmen of the Schuylkill Canal’, Appeal of the Boatmen of the Schuylkill Canal, to the Coal Consumers, Coal Producers and the Coal Land Owners, for Protection Against the Intended Monopoly of the Carrying Companies from the Schuylkill Coal Regions (1864)
• C. B. Conant, ‘Coal Fever: The Price and Prospects of Anthracite Coal’, Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review (1865)
• George Derby, An Inquiry into the Influence of Anthracite Fires upon Health; with Remarks upon Artificial Moisture, and the Best Modes of Warming Houses, 2nd edn (1868), extract
• J. C. Bayles, ‘The Coal Question’, Hunt’s Merchant Magazine (1869)
• Charles Barnard, ‘From Hod to Mine. In Seven Lifts’, American Homes (1874)
• Editorial Notes
• Silent Corrections
• List of Sources