GW Alumna Wrote New Book on Coffee’s Role in U.S. History

George Washington University alumna Michelle Craig McDonald, M.A. '94, has written her new book, "Coffee Nation."

The book examines how coffee grew to be a household staple in the United States, citing a range of archival, quantitative and material evidence. McDonald traces coffee from the slavery-based plantations of the Caribbean and South America, through the balance sheets of Atlantic world merchants, into the coffeehouses, stores and homes of colonial North Americans. That ultimately led to the growing import-export businesses of the early nineteenth-century United States.

The book also challenges traditional interpretations of the American Revolution, showing how coffee's profitability and popularity in U.S. markets contradicted ideals of independence. By the mid-19th century, coffee had become central to the global economy, with the United States dominating consumption and trade despite not producing the crop itself. McDonald's work highlights how distribution, rather than production, was at the heart of North America's coffee business and fueled its growth.