Changes in Lifestyle Brought on by the Industrial Revolution

Around 1830, the time of the industrial revolution, American life underwent a drastic change. As the Northeast factories rose, the farmer began to see the opportunity to sell perishables for money. Many began to exclusively raise livestock, and beef became New England’s most profitable ware, with dairy and poultry close behind. The southerners that did continue to grow grain continued to use the old, inefficient plows, but those in the north did not. The industrial revolution produced new cast iron plows, grain cradles, treadmill threshers and fanning mills, tools that made raising wheat easier and faster. All farmers began to grow and raise single items for money, instead of a variety. The agricultural and industrial communities became dependent on one another. The old systems of barter and cooperation between farmers now became a waste of time. Women now bought their food from stores, and felt compelled to bake and cook dishes that the average American would only have dreamed of a few years before. Living conditions improved, as farmers felt the need to paint their houses and clean their yards, and wives cleaned their houses more thoroughly and bought more expensive clothes. Farmers needed less help on the farm, and because of this, children became less useful, and more of a liability. The birth rate declined from 6.4 children per household in 1800 to only 4.9 in 1849. I especially find this interesting, as this pattern seems to be continuing today with a birth rate of less than 2.0. We enjoy luxuries today that Americans in 1849 wouldn’t have imagined, yet at what cost? Convenience isn’t everything, and we have become more dependent on the rest of society than ever before. Is it worth it?