History of coal mining 1454146 224657009 2008-07-09T21:03:15Z 86.156.8.107 <!--This article is in Commonwealth English--> [[Image:Tiangong Kaiwu Coal Mining.gif|thumb|right|200px|Chinese coal miners in an illustration of the ''Tiangong Kaiwu'' [[Ming Dynasty]] [[encyclopedia]], published in 1637 by [[Song Yingxing]].]] '''Coal has been used worldwide as a [[fuel]] for centuries. Around [[1842]] [[coal]] became the main energy source for the [[Industrial Revolution]], the expanding [[railway]] system of countries being a prime user to power [[steam train]]s. [[United Kingdom|Britain]] developed the main techniques of underground [[coal mining]] from the late [[18th century]] onward with further progress being driven by [[19th century]] and early [[20th century]] progress.<ref> Freese. (2003) </ref> Because coal is found mainly underground, it must be [[Mining|mined]] or extracted prior to use. Large-scale '''coal mining''' developed during the [[Industrial Revolution]], and coal provided the main source of [[primary energy]] for industry and transportation in the West from the [[18th century]] to the [[1950s]]. Coal remains an important energy source, due to its low cost and abundance when compared to other fuels, particularly for [[electricity]] generation.<ref> Freese. (2003) </ref> However, coal is also mined today on a large scale by [[open pit]] methods wherever the coal strata strike the surface and is relatively shallow. However [[oil]] and its associated fuels began to be used as alternative from this time onward. By the late 20th century coal was for the most part replaced in domestic as well as industrial and transportation usage by [[petroleum|oil]], [[natural gas]] or electricity produced from oil, gas, nuclear or [[renewable energy]] sources. Since [[1890]], coal mining has also been a political and social issue. Coal miners' labour and [[trade union]]s became powerful in many countries in the 20th century, and often the miners were leaders of the [[Left]] or [[Socialist]] movements (as in [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[Germany]], [[Poland]], [[Japan]], [[Canada]] and the [[U.S.]])<ref> Geoff Eley, ''Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000'' (2002); Frederic Meyers, ''European Coal Mining Unions: structure and function'' (1961) P. 86; Kazuo and Gordon (1997) p 48; [[Hajo Holborn]], ''History of Modern Germany'' (1959) p. 521; David Frank, ''J. B. McLachlan: A Biography: The Story of a Legendary Labour Leader and the Cape Breton Coal Miners,'' (1999) p, 69; David Montgomery, ''The fall of the house of labor: the workplace, the state, and American labor activism, 1865-1925'' (1991) p 343.</ref> Since [[1970]], [[environmental issues]] have been increasingly important, including the health of miners, destruction of the landscape from [[strip mine]]s and [[Mountaintop removal mining|mountaintop removal]], air pollution, and coal combustion's contribution to [[global warming]]. ==Prehistory== An 120,000-year-old [[Stone Age]] coal hunting camp was discovered in 2005 by [[Archaeology|archaeologist]]s in an opencast coal mine in [[Germany]], its first known use being [[campfire]] [[cooking]] fuel for [[Germans|German]] hunters.<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,464574,00.html ''Stone Age Camp Found In Germany''] ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' [[2007-02-06]] accessed [[2007-11-19]]</ref> [[China]] Coal Information Institute reports the [[Chinese people|Chinese]] mined coalstone for fuel since 10,000 years ago at the time of the [[Neolithic|New Stone Age]], or [[Neolithic|Neolithic Era]]. "People in [[Shanxi]], now the largest coal production base, have been burning coal as fuel since then."<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/16/business/sxasia.php ''Around the Markets: Future for coal brighter''] ''[[Herald Tribune]]'' [[2007-04-16]] accessed [[2007-11-29]]</ref> Coal usage was widespread in various parts of the world by the [[Bronze Age]], 2000-1000 BC. Chinese usage of coal for smelting began in the [[Warring States Period]] (475-221 BC). They are credited with organizing production and consumption to the extent that by the year 1000 AD this activity could be called an industry. In the 11th century, the demands for [[charcoal]] of the [[Song Dynasty]] ([[960]]-[[1279]]) Chinese [[iron industry]] led to widespread [[deforestation]].<ref name="ebrey 158">Ebrey, 158.</ref> With the advent of coal replacing charcoal in the iron smelting process, thousands of acres of prime [[timber]]land were spared in China.<ref name="ebrey 158"/> China remained the world's largest producer and consumer of coal until the 18th century.<ref>Thomson (2003) p. 8</ref> [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historians describe coal as a heating source in [[Britannia]].<ref>Freese (2003)</ref> [[Image:1900a.jpg|thumb|300px|Coal miners in Hazleton PA, USA, 1900]] The earliest use of coal in the [[Americas]] was by the [[Aztec]]s. They used coal not only for heat but as [[Jet (lignite)|ornaments]] as well. Coal deposits were discovered by colonists in Eastern North America in the [[18th century]].<ref>Freese (2003)</ref> Early coal extraction was small-scale, the coal lying either on the surface, or very close to it. Typical methods for extraction included [[drift mining]] and [[bell pit]]s. In Britain, some of the earliest drift mines (in the [[Forest of Dean]]) date from the [[medieval]] period.<ref>Freese (2003)</ref> However, the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] exploited coal on a large scale as shown by the stores of coal at many forts along [[Hadrian's Wall]], and the remains of [[smelting]] industry at forts such as [[Longovicium]] nearby{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. As well as drift mines, small scale [[shaft mining]] was used. This took the form of a [[bell pit]], the extraction working outward from a central shaft, or a technique called [[room and pillar]] in which 'rooms' of coal were extracted with pillars left to support the roofs. Both of these techniques however left considerable amount of usable coal behind. ==The Industrial Revolution== The [[Industrial Revolution]], which began in [[Great Britain|Britain]] in the [[1700s]], and later spread to [[Europe]], [[North America]], and [[Japan]], was based on the availability of coal to power [[steam engine]]s. International trade expanded exponentially when coal-fed steam engines were built for the [[railway]]s and [[steamship]]s in the [[1810]]-[[1840]] [[Victorian era]]. Coal was cheaper and much more efficient than [[wood burning]] in most steam engines. As central and [[Northern England]] contains an abundance of coal, many mines were situated in these areas as well as the [[South Wales coalfield]] and [[Scotland]]. The small-scale techniques were unsuited to the increasing demand, with extraction moving away from surface extraction to [[deep shaft mining]] as the Industrial Revolution progressed.<ref>Flinn and Stoker (1984)</ref> ==Beginning of the 20th century== [[Image:Coal1910.jpg|thumb|left|600px|Coal miners 1910]]<br clear="all" /> {|class=wikitable style="margin-left:10px" !colspan=3|Coal Production of the World, around 1905<ref>''Encyclopedia Britannica'' (11th ed.) [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Coal online]</ref> |- !Country !Year !Short Tons |- !colspan=3|Europe&nbsp; |- |United Kingdom |1905 |236,128,936 |- | Germany (coal) | |121,298,167 |- | Germany (lignite) | |52,498,507 |- |France | |35,869,497 |- |Belgium | |21,775,280 |- |Austria (coal) | |12,585,263 |- |Austria (lignite) | |22,692,076 |- |Hungary (coal) |1904 |1,031,501 |- | Hungary (lignite) | |5,447,283 |- |Spain |1905 |3,202,911 |- |Russia |1904 |19,318,000 |- |Holland | |466,997 |- |Bosnia (lignite) | |540,237 |- |Romania | |110,000 |- |Serbia |1904 |183,204 |- |Italy (coal and lignite) |1905 |412,916 |- |Sweden | |322,384 |- |Greece (lignite) |1904 |466,997 |- !colspan=3|Asia |- |India |1905 |8,417,739 |- |Japan |1903 |10,088,845 |- |Sumatra |1904 |207,280 |- !colspan=3|Africa&nbsp; |- |Transvaal |1904 |2,409,033 |- |Natal |1905 |1,129,407 |- |Cape Colony |1904 |154,272 |- !colspan=3|America&nbsp; |- |United States |1905 |350,821,000 |- |Canada |1904 |7,509,860 |- |Mexico | |700,000 |- |Peru |1905 |72,665 |- !colspan=3|Australasia&nbsp; |- |New South Wales |1905 |6,632,138 |- |Queensland | |529,326 |- |Victoria | |153,135 |- |Western Australia | |127,364 |- |Tasmania | |51,993 |- |New Zealand | |1,585,756 |} [[Image:Colliery.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Men leaving a UK colliery at the close of a shift]] ==Britain== ===Pre 1900=== Deep shaft mining in the [[UK]] started to develop in the late [[18th century]], although rapid expansion occurred throughout the [[19th century]] and early [[20th Century]] when the industry peaked. The location of the coalfields helped to make the prosperity of [[Lancashire]], of [[Yorkshire]], and of [[South Wales]]; the Yorkshire pits which supplied [[Sheffield]] were only about 300 feet deep. [[Northumberland]] and [[Durham]] were the leading coal producers and they were the sites of the first deep pits. In much of Britain coal was worked from [[drift mine]]s, or scraped off when it outcropped on the surface. Small groups of part-time miners used shovels and primitive equipment. Before [[1800]] a great deal of coal was left in places as extraction was still primitive. As a result in the deep [[Tyneside]] pits (300 to 1,000 ft. deep) only about 40 percent of the coal could be extracted. The use of wooden pit props to support the roof was an innovation first introduced about 1800. The critical factor was circulation of air and control of dangerous explosive gases. At first fires were burned to create air currents and circulate air, but replaced by fans driven by steam engines. Protection for miners came with the invention of the [[Davy lamp]] and [[Geordie lamp]], where any [[firedamp]] (or [[methane]]) burnt harmlessly within the lamp. It was achieved by restricting the ingress or air using either metal gauze or fine tubes, but the illumination from such lamps was very poor. Great efforts were made to develop better safe lamps, such as the Mueseler lamp produced in the Belgian pits near [[Liège]]. Coal was so abundant in Britain that the supply could be stepped up to meet the rapidly rising demand. About [[1770]]-[[1780]] the annual output of coal in was some 6¼ million tons (or about the output of a week and a half in the [[20th century]]). After [[1790]] output soared, reaching 16 million tons by [[1815]] at the height of the [[Napoleonic War]]. The miners, less menaced by imported labour or machines than were the [[cotton mill]] workers, had begun to form [[trade union]]s and fight their grim battle for wages against the coal owners and royalty-lessees.<ref> J. Steven Watson; ''The Reign of George III, 1760-1815.'' 1960. p, 516. </ref> ===Post 1900=== [[Coal mining]] ad extraction passed into [[National Coal Board|Government control]] in [[1947]], although coal had been a political issue since the early part of the 20th century. The need to maintain coal supplies (a primary energy source) had figured in both [[world war]]s.<ref>Fine (1990)</ref> As well as energy supply, coal in the [[UK]] became a very political issue, due to conditions under which colliers worked and the way they were treated by colliery owners. Much of the 'old [[Left]]' of British politics can trace its origins to coal-mining areas, with the main labour union being the [[National Union of Mineworkers]], founded in [[1888]]. The NUM claimed 600,000 members in [[1908]]. Although other factors were involved, one cause of the [[UK General Strike of 1926]] was concerns colliers had over very dangerous working conditions, reduced pay and longer shifts. Technological development throughout the [[19th century]] and [[20th century]] helped both to improve the safety of colliers and the productive capacity of collieries they worked. In the late 20th century, improved integration of coal extraction with bulk industries such as electrical generation helped coal maintain its position despite the emergence of alternative energies supplies such as [[oil]], [[natural gas]] and, from the late [[1950s]], [[nuclear power]] used for electricity. More recently coal has faced competition from renewable energy sources and bio-fuels. Post [[World War II]], the coal industry in Britain was Nationalised, and remained in public ownership until the [[1980s]] and the decline of the industry after the [[UK miners' strike (1984-1985)]]. The [[1980s]] and [[1990s]] saw much change in the UK coal industry, with the industry contracting, in some areas quite drastically. Many pits were considered 'uneconomic'<ref>[Margaret Thatcher, quoted in B. Fine, The coal question: political economy and industrial change from the Nineteenth Century to the present day]</ref> to work at then current wage rates compared to 'cheap' [[North Sea oil]] and [[gas]], and in comparison to subsidy levels in [[Europe]]. [[UK miners' strike (1984–1985)|The Miners' Strike of 1984]] failed to stop the [[Conservative]] government's plans under [[Margaret Thatcher]] to shrink the industry. The [[National Coal Board]] (by then [[British Coal]]), was privatised by selling off a large number of pits to private concerns through the mid [[1990s]], and the mining industry disappeared almost completely.<ref>Fine (1990); Bridget Woodman, ''The Burning Question: Is the UK on Course for a Low Carbon Economy'' (2004)</ref> In January 2008, Wales's last deep pit mine, [[Tower Colliery]] in Hirwaun, [[Rhondda]] Cynon Taf closed with the loss of 120 jobs. The coal was exhausted.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7200432.stm BBC ''Coal mine closes with celebration'' 25 January 2008]</ref> However, coal is still mined extensively at a number of deep pits in the Midlands and the north, and is extracted at several very large opencast pits in South Wales and elsewhere. There are proposals to re-open several deep pits with Russian capital, owing to the soaring price of the commodity. ==USA== {|class=wikitable style="float:right;margin-left:10px" !colspan=2|Coal Producing States, 1889<ref>Source: ''Thirteenth Census of the United States, Vol. XI, Mines and Quarries, 1913,'' Table 4, p. 187</ref> |- !State !Coal Production<br>(thousands of short tons) |- |Pennsylvania |align=right|81,719 |- |Illinois |align=right|12,104 |- |Ohio |align=right|9,977 |- |West Virginia |align=right|6,232 |- |Iowa |align=right|4,095 |- |Alabama |align=right|3,573 |- |Indiana |align=right|2,845 |- |Colorado |align=right|2,544 |- |Kentucky |align=right|2,400 |- |Kansas |align=right|2,221 |- |Tennessee |align=right|1,926 |- |} [[Anthracite]] (or "hard" coal), clean and smokeless, became the preferred fuel in cities, replacing wood by about [[1850]]. Anthracite from the Northeastern [[Pennsylvania]] [[Coal Region]] (and later from [[West Virginia]]) was typically used for household uses because it is a high quality coal with few impurities and stoves and furnaces were designed for it. The rich Pennsylvania anthracite fields were close to the big Eastern cities, and a few major railroads like the [[Reading Company|Reading Railroad]] controlled the anthracite fields. By [[1840]], hard coal output had passed the million-short ton mark, and then quadrupled by 1850. Bituminous (or "soft coal") mining came later. In the mid-century [[Pittsburgh]] was the principal market. After 1850 soft coal, which is cheaper but dirtier, came into demand for railway locomotives and stationary [[steam engine]]s, and was used to make [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] for [[steel]] after [[1870]].<ref>Binder (1974)</ref> Total coal output soared until [[1918]]; before [[1890]], it doubled every ten years, going from 8.4 million short tons in [[1850]] to 40 million in [[1870]], 270 million in [[1900]], and peaking at 680 million short tons in 1918. New soft coal fields opened in [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]] and [[Illinois]], as well as [[West Virginia]], [[Kentucky]] and [[Alabama]]. The [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] of the [[1930s]] lowered the demand to 360 million short tons in 1932.<ref> Bruce C. Netschert and Sam H. Schurr, ''Energy in the American Economy, 1850-1975: An Economic Study of Its History and Prospects.'' pp 60-62. </ref> ===Labor troubles=== After the [[Lattimer Massacre]] of [[1897]] and the [[Battle of Virden]] in [[Illinois]] in [[1898]], the [[United Mine Workers]] (UMW) [[Trade union|labor union]] was successful in its strike against [[bituminous coal]] mines in the [[Midwest]] in [[1900]]. However, the union's [[Coal Strike of 1902|strike against the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania]] turned into a national political crisis in [[1902]]. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] brokered a compromise solution that kept the flow of coal going, and won higher wages and shorter hours for the miners, but did not include recognition of the union as a bargaining agent. The UMW [[Coal mining in Colorado|called strikes in Colorado's coal fields]], one of which resulted in the [[Ludlow massacre|Ludlow Massacre]] of [[1914]].<Ref>Out Of the Depths, Barron B. Beshoar, 1942</Ref> Neutralized by the dispatch of federal troops after ten days of skirmishes provoked by the massacre, the UMW essentially suspended most activities in [[Colorado]] for more than a decade. Meanwhile the organization grew stronger in the east until about [[1920]], when it collapsed after a national strike. In [[1927]], the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW) led a state-wide strike in Colorado's coalfields which resulted in the [[Columbine Mine massacre|Columbine Mine Massacre]]. Immediately after that massacre, Rocky Mountain Fuel Company announced that it would recognize any union affiliated with the [[American Federation of Labor]]. In announcing this policy, the company avoided recognizing the radical IWW. <Ref>Slaughter in Serene: the Columbine Coal Strike Reader, 2005</Ref> Thus, the United Mine Workers was awarded its first contract in Colorado. ===Mechanization=== [[Richard Sutcliffe]] invented the first [[conveyor belt]] for use in coal mines in the early [[1900s]]. Within the first forty years of the [[20th century]], there was an increase of over sixty percent in the amount of coal that was loaded mechanically rather than by man power{{fn|1}}. Over time, less and less manual labour would be needed in the industry. As this trend continued, the labor-intensive coal-mining methods that supported the miners declined. As the miners saw their livelihood taken away, resistance to mechanization grew. As noted in historian Keith Dix’s article, “What’s a Coal Miner to Do?” one of the first machines to arrive at [[West Virginia]]’s Kanawha field had to be escorted by armed guards. Dix also writes that “The same machine introduced at a mine in [[Illinois]] was operated at a slow speed because the superintendent feared labor troubles.” {{fn|1}} Despite resistance, mechanization replaced more and more laborers. By [[1940]], almost seventy percent of coal loaded in [[West Virginia]], one of the largest coal producing states, was done by machine.{{ref|2}} With the increase of mechanization came hard times for the former miners and their families. Many miners moved to the cities to find work. ===Post-World War II=== Under [[John L. Lewis]], the UMW became the dominant force in the coal fields in the [[1930s]] and [[1940s]], producing high wages and benefits. Repeated strikes caused the public to switch away from [[anthracite]] for home heating after [[1945]], and that sector collapsed.<ref>Dubofsky and Van Tine (1977)</ref> [[Image:Coal mine Wyoming.jpg|thumb|Surface coal mining in [[Wyoming]] in the [[United States|United States of America]].]] In [[1914]] at the peak there were 180,000 anthracite miners; by [[1970]] only 6,000 remained. At the same time [[steam engine]]s were phased out in [[railway]]s and factories, and [[bituminous]] was used primarily for the generation of [[electricity]]. Employment in bituminous peaked at 705,000 men in [[1923]], falling to 140,000 by [[1970]] and 70,000 in [[2003]]. Environmental restrictions on high-sulphur coal, and the rise of very large-scale [[Surface mining|strip mining]] in the west (especially the [[Powder River Basin]] fields in [[Wyoming]] and adjacent states), caused the sharp decline in underground mining after 1970. UMW membership among active miners fell from 160,000 in 1980 to only 16,000 in 2005, as coal mining became more mechanized and non-union miners predominated in the new coal fields. The American share of world coal production remained steady at about 20% from 1980 to 2005. ==Australia== In 1984 Australia surpassed the US as the world's largest coal exporter. One-third of Australia's coal exports were shipped from the Hunter River region of New South Wales, where coal mining and transport had begun nearly two centuries earlier. Coal River was the first name given by British settlers to the Hunter River after coal was found there in 1795. In 1804 the Sydney-based administration established a permanent convict settlement near the mouth of the Hunter River to mine and load the coal, predetermining the town's future as a coal port by naming it Newcastle. Today, Newcastle, NSW, is the largest coal port in the world. ==Canada== [[Canada]] had a small coal industry concentrated at [[Cape Breton]] in [[Nova Scotia]]. At its peak in [[1949]] 25,000 miners dug 17 million metric tons of coal from mines. The miners, who lived in company towns, were politically active in [[left-wing politics]]. [[Westray Mine]] closed in [[1992]] after an explosion killed 26 miners. All the mines were closed by 2001. The United States always supplied the coal for the industrial regions of [[Ontario]]. By 2000 about 19% of Canada's energy was supplied by coal, chiefly imported from the U.S. Coal mines all shut down two years later due to an over-exportation crises in the West. ==Colombia== [[Image:Cerrejonmine2.png|thumb|right|300px|Opencast coal mine at [[Cerrejón]]]] Some of the world's largest coal reserves are located in South America, and an opencast at [[Cerrejón]] in [[Colombia]] is one of the world's largest [[open pit]] mines. The output of the mine in 2004 was 24.9 million tons (compared to total global hard coal production of 4,600 million tons). Cerrejón contributes about half of Colombia's coal exports of 52 million tons, with Colombia ranked sixth among major coal exporting nations.The company plans to expand production to 32 million tons by 2008. The company has its own 150km standard-gauge railroad, connecting the mine to its coal-loading terminal at Puerto Bolívar on the Caribbean coast. There are two 120-car unit trains, each carrying 12,000 tons of coal per trip. The round-trip time for each train, including loading and unloading, is about 12 hours. The coal facilities at the port are capable of loading 4,800 tons per hour on to vessels of up to 175,000 tons of dead weight. The mine, railroad and port operate 24 hours per day. Cerrejón directly employs 4,600 workers, with a further 3,800 employed by contractors. The reserves at Cerrejón are low-sulfur, low-ash, bituminous coal. The coal is mostly used for electric power generation, with some also used in [[steel]] manufacture. The surface mineable reserves for the current contract are 330 million tons. However, total proven reserves to a depth of 300 metres are 3,000 million tons. ==Germany== The first important mines appeared in the [[1750s]], In [[1782]] the [[Krupp]] family began operations near [[Essen]]. After [[1815]] [[entrepreneur]]s in the [[Ruhr Area]], which then became part of [[Prussia]] took advantage of the tariff zone ([[Zollverein]]) to open new mines and associated [[iron]] smelters. New railroads were built by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[engineer]]s around [[1850]]. Numerous small industrial centres sprang up, focused on [[ironworks]], using local coal. The [[iron]] and [[steel]] works typically bought mines, and erected [[coking]] [[oven]]s to supply their own requirements in [[coke]] and [[gas]]. These integrated coal-iron firms ("Huettenzechen") became numerous after [[1854]]; after [[1900]] they became mixed firms called "Konzern." The average output of a mine in [[1850]] was about 8,500 short tons; its employment about 64. By [[1900]], the average mine's output had risen to 280,000 and the employment to about 1,400. Total [[Ruhr]] coal output rose from 2.0 million short tons in 1850 to 22 in [[1880]], 60 in [[1900]], and 114 in [[1913]], on the verge of war. In [[1932]] output was down to 73 million short tons, growing to 130 in [[1940]]. Output peaked in [[1957]] (at 123), declining to 78 million short tons in [[1974]].<ref>Pounds (1952)</ref> ==Belgium== By [[1830]] when [[iron]] and later [[steel]] became important the [[Belgian]] [[coal]] industry had long been established, and used [[steam engine]]s for pumping. The Belgian coalfield lay near the navigable [[River Meuse]], so coal was shipped downstream to the ports and cities of the [[Rhine]]-[[Meuse]]-[[Scheldt]] [[delta]]. The opening of the [[Saint-Quentin Canal]] allowed coal to go by barge to [[Paris]]. The Belgian coalfield outcrops over most of its area, and the highly folded nature of the coal seams meant that surface occurrences of the coal were very abundant. Deep mines were not required at first so there were a large number of small operations. There was a complex legal system for concessions, often multiple layers had different owners. [[Entrepreneur]]s started going deeper and deeper (thanks to the good pumping system). In [[1790]], the maximum depth of mines was 220 meters. By [[1856]], the average depth in the area west of [[Mons]] was 361, and in [[1866]], 437 meters and some pits had reached down 700 and 900 meters; one was 1,065 meters deep, probably the deepest coal mine in [[Europe]] at this time. [[Gas]] explosions were a serious problem, and Belgium had high coal miner fatality rates. By the late [[19th century]] the seams were becoming exhausted and the steel industry was importing some coal from the [[Ruhr]].<ref>Parker and Pounds (1957)</ref> ==Disasters== Mining has always been dangerous, because of explosions, roof cave-ins, and the difficulty of mines rescue. The worst single disaster in [[Great Britain|British]] coal mining history was at [[Senghenydd Colliery Disaster|Senghenydd]] in the [[South Wales coalfield]]. On the morning of [[14 October]] [[1913]] an explosion and subsequent fire killed 436 men and boys. Only 72 bodies were recovered. It followed a series of many extensive [[Mining accident]]s in the [[Victorian era]], such as [[The Oaks explosion]] of 1866 and the [[Hartley Colliery Disaster]] of 1862. Most of the explosions were caused by [[firedamp]] ignitions followed by [[coal dust]] [[explosions]]. Deaths were mainly caused by [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning, although at Hartley colliery, where the victims were entombed when the single shaft was blocked by a broken cast iron beam from the haulage engine, death occurred by [[asphyxiation]]. The [[Monongah Mining disaster|Monongah Mine disaster]] of [[Monongah]], [[West Virginia]] [[6 December]] [[1907]] was the worst of many [[mining disasters]] in American history. The explosion was caused by the ignition of [[methane]] gas (also called "[[firedamp]]"), which in turn ignited the coal dust. The lives of 362 men were lost in the underground explosion. ==Notes== <div class="references-small"> {{reflist}} </div> ==Bibliography== ===Britain=== * Carolyn Baylies; ''The History of the Yorkshire Miners, 1881-1918'' Routledge, 1993 * John Benson; ''British Coal-Miners in the Nineteenth Century: A Social History'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=23204491 Holmes & Meier, 1980 online] * Robert W Dron. ''The economics of coal mining'' (1928) * B. Fine. ''The Coal Question: Political Economy and Industrial Change from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day'' (1990) * Michael W. Flinn, and David Stoker. ''History of the British Coal Industry: Volume 2. 1700-1830: The Industrial Revolution'' (1984) * Robert Lindsay Galloway. ''A history of coal mining in Great Britain'' * Hatcher, John. '' The History of the British Coal Industry: Volume 1: Before 1700: Towards the Age of Coal'' (1993) * Margot Heinemann. ''Britain's coal: A study of the mining crisis'' (1944) * Edward Hull. ''The Coal-fields of Great Britain: Their History, Structure and Resources: With Descriptions'' 1905 * James Alan Jaffe. ''The Struggle for Market Power: Industrial Relations in the British Coal Industry, 1800-1840'' (2003) * W. Stanley Jevons, ''The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal Mines'' (1906). [http://serv.ul.cs.cmu.edu/zoom/record.html?id=15551 online edition] ===United States=== ====Pre-World War II Mechanization==== * {{note|1}} Green, James R., The Business History Review-Book Review: What's a Coal Miner to Do? The Mechanization of Coal Mining by Keith Dix, (Harvard College: The President and Fellowes of Harvard College, Spring 1991), 183-185 * {{note|2}} Myers, Mark, “Coal Mechanization and Migration from McDowell County, West Virginia, 1932-1970: A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History East Tennessee State University,” (August 2001), 1-4, 67-60 ====Industry==== * [http://eh.net/encyclopedia/?article=adams.industry.coal.us Sean Patrick Adams, . "The US Coal Industry in the Nineteenth Century."] EH.Net Encyclopedia, [[August 15]], [[2001]] scholarly overview * Sean Patrick Adams, ''Old Dominion, Industrial Commonwealth: Coal, Politics, and Economy in Antebellum America''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. * Frederick Moore Binder, ''Coal Age Empire: Pennsylvania Coal and Its Utilization to 1860''. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1974. * Alfred Chandler, . "Anthracite Coal and the Beginnings of the ‘Industrial Revolution' in the United States", ''Business History Review'' 46 (1972): 141-181. * Carmen., DiCiccio, ''Coal and Coke in Pennsylvania''. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1996 * Phil Conley, ''History of West Virginia Coal Industry'' (Charleston: Education Foundation, 1960) * Howard Eavenson, . ''The First Century and a Quarter of the American Coal Industry'' 1942. * [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=85688689 Verla R. Flores and A. Dudley Gardner. ''Forgotten Frontier: A History of Wyoming Coal Mining'' (1989)] * Fred J. Lauver, "A Walk Through the Rise and Fall of Anthracite Might", ''Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine'' 27#1 (2001) [http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/miningmuseum/page1.asp?secid=31 online edition] * Priscilla Long, ''Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America's Bloody Coal Industry'' Paragon, 1989. * [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51646786 Robert H. Nelson. ''The Making of Federal Coal Policy'' (1983)] * Bruce C. Netschert and Sam H. Schurr, ''Energy in the American Economy, 1850-1975: An Economic Study of Its History and Prospects.'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9239758 (1960) online] * Glen Lawhon Parker, ''The Coal Industry: A Study in Social Control'' (Washington: American Council on Public Affairs, 1940) * H. Benjamin Powell, ''Philadelphia's First Fuel Crisis. Jacob Cist and the Developing Market for Pennsylvania Anthracite''. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1978. * [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104256174 Dan Rottenberg, ''In the Kingdom of Coal: An American Family and the Rock That Changed the World'' (2003)], owners' perspective * Sam H. Schurr, and Bruce C. Netschert. ''Energy in the American Economy, 1850-1975: An Economic Study of Its History and Prospects.'' Johns Hopkins Press, 1960. * United States Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, 1902-1903, ''Report to the President on the Anthracite Coal Strike of May-October, 1902 By United States Anthracite Coal Strike'' (1903) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC65212138&id=3t0JAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA7&lpg=RA2-PA7&dq=Report+to+the+President+on+the+Anthracite+Coal+Strike online edition] * Richard H. K. Vietor and Martin V. Melosi; ''Environmental Politics and the Coal Coalition'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3560720 Texas A&M University Press, 1980 online] * Kenneth Warren, ''Triumphant Capitalism: Henry Clay Frick and the Industrial Transformation of America''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996. ====Coal miners and unions==== * Harold W Aurand. ''Coalcracker Culture: Work and Values in Pennsylvania Anthracite, 1835-1935'' 2003 * Morton S. Baratz, ''The Union and the Coal Industry'' (Yale University Press, 1955) * Perry Blatz, ''Democratic Miners: Work and Labor Relations in the Anthracite Coal Industry, 1875-1925''. Albany: SUNY Press, 1994. * David Alan Corbin, ''Life, Work, and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: The Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880-1922'' (1981) * Keith Dix, ''What's a Coal Miner to Do? The Mechanization of Coal Mining'' (1988), changes in the coal industry prior to 1940 * Melvyn Dubofsky and Warren Van Tine, ''John L. Lewis: A Biography'' (1977), leader of Mine Workers union, 1920-1960 * Coal Mines Administration, U.S, Department Of The Interior. ''A Medical Survey of the Bituminous-Coal Industry.'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100155905 U.S. Government Printing Office. 1947. online] * Ronald D, Eller. ''Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880–1930'' 1982. * [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65250169 Price V. Fishback. ''Soft Coal, Hard Choices: The Economic Welfare of Bituminous Coal Miners, 1890-1930'' (1992)] *[http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/history/coalstrike.htm Jonathan Grossman "The Coal Strike of 1902 – Turning Point in U.S. Policy" ''Monthly Labor Review'' October 1975. online] * Katherine Harvey, ''The Best Dressed Miners: Life and Labor in the Maryland Coal Region, 1835-1910''. Cornell University Press, 1993. * A. F. Hinrichs; ''The United Mine Workers of America, and the Non-Union Coal Fields'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=914999 Columbia University, 1923 online] * Herman R. Lantz; ''People of Coal Town'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9494437 Columbia University Press, 1958; on southern Illinois; online] * John H.M. Laslett, ed. ''The United Mine Workers: A Model of Industrial Solidarity?'' Penn State University Press, 1996. * Ronald L. Lewis. ''Black Coal Miners in America: Race, Class, and Community Conflict''. University Press of Kentucky, 1987. * Richard D. Lunt, ''Law and Order vs. the Miners: West Virginia, 1907-1933'' Archon Books, 1979, On labor conflicts of the early twentieth century. * [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1116075 Edward A. Lynch and David J. McDonald. ''Coal and Unionism: A History of the American Coal Miners' Unions'' (1939)] * Phelan, Craig. ''Divided Loyalties: The Public and Private Life of Labor Leader John Mitchell'' (1994) * Jörg Rössel, ''Industrial Structure, Union Strategy and Strike Activity in Bituminous Coal Mining, 1881 - 1894'', in: Social Science History 26 (2002): 1 - 32. * Curtis Seltzer, ''Fire in the Hole: Miners and Managers in the American Coal Industry'' University Press of Kentucky, 1985, conflict in the coal industry to the 1980s. * Joe William Trotter Jr., ''Coal, Class, and Color: Blacks in Southern West Virginia, 1915-32'' (1990) * U.S. Immigration Commission, ''Report on Immigrants in Industries, Part I: Bituminous Coal Mining'', 2 vols. Senate Document no. 633, 61st Cong., 2nd sess. (1911) * Anthony F.C. Wallace, ''St. Clair. A Nineteenth-Century Coal Town's Experience with a Disaster-Prone Industry''. Knopf, 1981. * Robert D. Ward and William W. Rogers, ''Labor Revolt in Alabama: The Great Strike of 1894'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=13798804 University of Alabama Press, 1965 online] coal strike ===World=== * Dorian, James P. ''Minerals, Energy, and Economic Development in China'' Clarendon Press, 1994 *Ebrey, Walthall, Palais (2006). ''East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4. * David Frank, ''J. B. McLachlan: A Biography: The Story of a Legendary Labour Leader and the Cape Breton Coal Miners,'' (1999), in Canada * Barbara Freese. ''Coal: A Human History'' (2003) * Jeffrey, E. C. ''Coal and Civilization'' 1925. * Nimura Kazuo, Andrew Gordon, and Terry Boardman; ''The Ashio Riot of 1907: A Social History of Mining in Japan'' Duke University Press, 1997 * Martin F. Parnell; ''The German Tradition of Organized Capitalism: Self-Government in the Coal Industry'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9660903 Oxford University Press Inc., 1998 online] * Marsden, Susan, 'Coals to Newcastle: a History of Coal Loading at the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales 1797-1997' (2002) ISBN 0-9578961-9-0. * Norman J. G. Pounds and William N. Parker; ''Coal and Steel in Western Europe; the Influence of Resources and Techniques on Production'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=54517226 Indiana University Press, 1957 online] * Norman J. G. Pounds "An Historical Geography of Europe, 1800-1914'' (1993) * Norman J. G. Pounds. ''The Ruhr: A Study in Historical and Economic Geography'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3055785 (1952) online] * Huaichuan Rui; ''Globalisation, Transition and Development in China: The Case of the Coal Industry'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108559172 Routledge, 2004 online] * Elspeth Thomson; ''The Chinese Coal Industry: An Economic History'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108634060 Routledge 2003 online]. * World Coal Institute. ''The Coal Resource'' (2005) covers all aspects of the coal industry in 48 pp; [http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=37 online version] ==See also== *[[coal mining]] *[[mining disasters]] ==External links== {{wikiquote}} * [http://www.illawarracoal.com/ "Illawarra Coal"] - An unofficial history of coal mining in the Illawarra region of Australia * [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Coal Encyclopedia britannica 11th ed 1913] * [http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/news/press_archive.asp?PageID=195 World Coal Institute] on current issues * [http://www.ironminers.com Abandoned mine Research] *[http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/mhn/www.html Mining History Network] numerous links (many are broken) *[http://www.walesontheweb.org/cayw/index/en/622/334 Coal mining in Wales] *[http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/mine/english/e_dtm Down the Mine] &mdash; [[George Orwell]] essay on a visit to a coal mine. *[http://www.usmwf.org/ Workplace Fatality’s & the Aftermath] [[United Support & Memorial for Workplace Fatalities]] *[http://weeklytoll.blogspot.com/ Workplace Fatality’s & the Aftermath] [[Weekly Toll Blog]] [[Category:Coal mining| ]] [[Category:Industrial Revolution]] [[Category:History of mining|Coal mining]] [[Category:Industrial Workers of the World]] [[fr:Histoire de l'exploitation minière du charbon]]