How did the discovery of coal help change Pennsylvania from an agricultural to an industrial leader?

Question

Pennsylvania history.

Answer 1

The coal industry was a major foundation for Pennsylvania industrialization in the nineteenth century: as a fuel source, coal provided a cheap and efficient source of power for steam engines, furnaces, and forges across the United States. As an economic pursuit, coal spurred technological innovations in mine technology, energy consumption, and transportation. The influence of coal was so pervasive in the United States that it became a necessity of everyday life and emerged as a valuable domestic fuel for heating and cooking, as well as a powerful source of energy for urban blacksmiths, bakers, brewers, and manufacturers. The most important technological development in the American coal industry was the successful adoption of anthracite coal to iron making techniques. Pennsylvania's investment in anthracite iron paid dividends for the industrial economy of the state and proved that coal could be adapted to a number of industrial pursuits. In the years immediately following the Civil War, the expansion of the coal trade accelerated as railroads assumed the burden of carrying coal to market and opening up previously inaccessible fields. New developments in mine technology continued to revolutionize the trade as more and more coal fields across the United States became integrated into the national system of railroads. Industrial relations also assumed nationwide dimensions.