I would be interested in knowing some of the opinions of historians in New
York State as to current research questions and issues in 19th-century State
history.  What are some of the timely issues and unanswered questions relating
to 19th-century New York State economic history that are currently being
debated and discussed by historians?  What are some of the major  questions
relating to 19th-century history that are unanswered or unresolved?  By this I
mean issues and questions, not just general topics for research (such as
"slavery").  Also, I do not want to debate any current issues or questions; I
just want to know what they are.

    For example, one such  research question that "has proven to be an
enduring problem for historians" is determining when farmers in the 19th
century switched from subsistence to market production (Thomas Summerhill's
useful review of The Agricultural Transition in New York State: Markets and
Migration in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America by Donald H. Parkerson).

Paul Huey