Research Topics

Choose a topic that will add to students' understanding of the iron industry and Centre Furnace. Keep research within the historic period of the furnace (1791-1809; 1826-1858).

Here is a list of possible topics:

1. Detail the rise of American art and literature. Choose an American author and an American artist of the period and consider how their work contributed to a sense of nationalism.

2. Choose a president of this time period and explain his major accomplishments and failures.

3. Describe an ordinary day in the life of an ironworker or someone in the Thompson family.

4. Discuss the methods of transportation for this period. Include the advantages and disadvantages of each option in regards to the physical challenges of the region (mountains, forests, bodies of water, animals, native dwellers).

5. Research the use of the grist mill and saw mill that would be present in the Centre Furnace village.

6. Discuss the similarities and differences between the pollution caused by Centre Furnace during this time period and present-day pollution problems in the same location.