Details About The 1800s That Definitely Weren't In The History Books

The 19th-century United States can be described by the title of a Clint Eastwood movie: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. But diving between the lines of historical textbooks reveals we need to add three more adjectives to that Eastwood flick: The Weird, The Uncomfortable, and the Dangerous. As the nation took its first steps beyond independence, her citizens faced some daily trials that make modern Americans wonder how anyone back then could even last a day.

City Life

Traffic, overcrowding, pollution, construction, and a booming population certainly made for a rough city living experience. But back in the 1800s that was all exacerbated by poor hygiene practices and workers grinding away in filthy factories before there were any labor laws or standards in place.

Child Labor

Kids couldn't catch a break! Lax child labor laws saw kids working seven days a week on farms or in factories, especially during the Industrial Revolution, when cash-holding fat cats realized kids were less likely to organize into unions.

Traveling By Horse

People pay about $80 to have a cabby take them around Central Park via horseback for 45 minutes without learning the realities of 19th-century travel: horses pooped everywhere, requiring rich people to wear raised shoes so they didn't "sink in."

Fires

Industrial Revolutions saw cities expand at unprecedented rates, which meant engineers didn't get a chance to study what to do and what not to do. Buildings and neighborhoods didn't meet any fire codes, and rudimentary firefighting tech limited meaningful responses to any raging blazes.