The American Coal Industry 1790–1902, Volume III

King Coal's Uneasy Throne in America, 1870-1902

Sean Patrick Adams

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781138757660
• eBook ISBN: 9781040251331
• Edition: 1
• 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 contributions the 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; in doing so they provide 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 and consequently 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 third volume in this set traces the three decades following the American Civil War, during which time the use of coal for manufacturing, locomotives and domestic heating helped build a dynamic industrial economy in the United States. Mineral fuel growth powered the growth of the nation and by 1885 coal became the single most important source of American energy. Coal mining spread to nearly every corner of the nation in the half-century following the civil war. By the time of the Great Anthracite Strike in 1902, the American coal industry was a truly national phenomenon. The rise of large and well-funded mining and railroad corporations, the national unions, and the inroads by state governments into mine safety

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Contents of the Edition
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Charles Reemelin, Benjamin M. Skinner and Andrew Roy, Report of the Mining Commission Appointed under Joint Resolution of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, Passed May 2d, 1871, to his Excellency the Governor RutherfordB. Hayes. November 14th, 1871 (1872), extract
• Israel W. Morris, The Duty on Coal, Being a Few Facts Connected with the Coal Question, Which Will Furnish Matter for Thought to the Friends of American Industry (1872)
• Philadelphia Coal Exchange, The Coal Monopoly. The Coal Trade of Philada in Reply to the President of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. With the Charter of the Laurel Run Improvement Company, Now the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company (1873)
• James McKillop, ‘A Visit to the Coal Mines of America’, in Coal and American Coal Mining (1876), extract
• F. A. Herwig, The Present Management of the Reading Railroad, as It Affects the Coal Regions, the Coal Miners and Consumers (1879) 1
• The Coal Dealer Conspiracy: Selected Articles from the Chicago Tribune, 1880-6
• John McBride, ‘Coal Miners’, in George E. McNeill (ed.), The Labor Movement: The Problem of To-day (1887)
• Charles Miesse, Points on Coal and the Coal Business... History of the Anthracite Coal Field and its Surroundings (1887), extract
• Chris Evans, History of the United Mine Workers of America, Volume II: From the Year 1890 to 1900 (1918), extract
• Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, Report to the President on the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 (1903), extract
• Editorial Notes
• Silent Corrections
• List of Sources
• Index