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Author Archives: Sean Adams
Using Energy’s Past to Predict the Future
One of the many reasons that historians reconstruct the past is so that we can understand our present, and perhaps even make some predictions about the future. When I was writing my recent book, Home Fires: How Americans Kept Warm … Continue reading
Posted in coal, Energy, heating
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Got Coal? Now Would Be the Time To Buy
One of the many luxuries of contemporary life is the ability to heat homes at the flip of a switch or the turn of a dial. Modern utilities allow us to draw instantly on gas, electricity, and in increasingly rare … Continue reading
Gainesville Comes Clean on Mountaintop Removal?
The City Commission of my hometown of Gainesville, Florida recently voted against using coal from mountaintop removal sites. The controversy over mountaintop removal is well known in states like Kentucky and West Virginia. On the one hand, it’s difficult to … Continue reading
Coal Rolling is the New Old Black
As a historian of the Industrial Revolution, I’m almost always pleased to see my research interests resurface in a modern setting. I say “almost” because there has been a recent movement called “coal rolling,” in which trucks are fitted with … Continue reading
Deadbeats: An American Tradition?
I wish that I had this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education written by William & Mary’s Scott Nelson handy when I taught AMH4373: History of American Capitalism last year. The piece covers the long history of American indebtedness … Continue reading
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But Don’t Quote Me On That
One of the most common questions I get from students when I teach the Early Republic course is about quotations. Is it true that Thomas Jefferson wrote that the “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time … Continue reading
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The Worst Historians and the Early Republic
Political pundits, journalists, and sometimes even ideologues draw to the Early American Republic like moths to a flame. Whether they are written in the attempt to make a quick buck exploiting the reading public’s endless fascination with the Founding Generation … Continue reading
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