The most common ways to die in 1800s America -

It wasn't the best century to fall sick as many conditions could be easily treated today.

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Diarrhea -

Yes, diarrhea is a symptom rather than a disease, but back in the 1800s the word was used as an umbrella term to describe watery stools that are not associated with a particular condition.

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Diarrhea -

According to the census report, 7,850 people died of diarrhea in 1860. Today, people still die of the consequences of diarrhea, in particular dehydration.

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Whooping cough -

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a really contagious respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The infection can last a long time, and it was a big killer in the 1800s.

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Whooping cough -

According to the 1860 census, 8,408 people died of whooping cough in America. The disease was particularly fatal among infants, totaling 5% of total children's deaths that year.

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Convulsions -

Back then, convulsions was an umbrella term used to describe any condition that caused spasms, including epilepsy, tetanus, and neonatal seizures.

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Convulsions -

These were often more fatal in children (especially in newborns and those under age one). Records show that 9,077 Americans died of convulsions in 1860.

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Cephalitis -

Cephalitis is what we know today by encephalitis. Like with others on this list, it's not actually a condition, but a symptom. It's essentially an inflammation in the brain, which can be caused by numerous things, from viruses to autoimmune diseases.

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Cephalitis -

Cephalitis, also known as "brain fever" back then, was responsible for the death of 10,399 Americans in 1860.

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Dysentery -

Unlike "diarrhea" as a generic term, dysentery is an actual condition, that indeed causes diarrhea. Except, there's usually blood in the stools. The condition is caused by two specific microorganisms: a bacteria called shigella, and a protozoan called E. histolytica.

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Dysentery -

Infection can be prevented by washing one's hands after using the toilet. Nearly 10,500 people died of dysentery in 1860. That's more than those who suffered from diarrhea alone.

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Old age -

Dying of old age in the 1800s is quite something, considering the health risks such as poor sanitation and lack of vaccination, among others. It might be worth mentioning that some of these 'old' people were less than 50 years old.

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Old age -

According to the 1860 census, "old age" is described as the cause of death for 10,887 people in America.

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Remittent fever -

Remittent fever can be described as a fever without a stable pattern, i.e. it fluctuates by more than a couple degrees throughout the day.

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Remittent fever -

Yes, it's usually a symptom of an underlying condition (e.g. malaria), but it got its own cause of death classification back then. Remittent fever is responsible for killing 11,120 people back in 1860.

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Dropsy -

Dropsy refers to the swelling of tissues due to fluid retention. Today it's better known as edema, or simply "fluid retention." There is usually an underlying cause such as heart failure, kidney failure, or lung disease. This explains why people were said to have died from it.

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Dropsy - While doctors back then knew that dropsy was a symptom, many times they just couldn't figure out the causes. Dropsy claimed 12,090 lives in 1860.

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Typhoid fever -

Typhoid fever is caused by serotypes Typhi and Paratyphi, and it basically spreads through feces. So yes, sanitation and washing hands was not Americans' forte in the 1800s. 

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Typhoid fever -

A total of 19,236 people died of typhoid fever in 1860. Fun fact: Mary Mallon, better known as "Typhoid Mary" (pictured), was the first recorded asymptomatic case of a typhoid carrier in the US.

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Typhoid fever -

Mary Mallon was immune to the disease and was responsible for spreading it while working as a cook. She was quarantined, and later institutionalized on North Brother Island.

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Croup -

Croup is essentially a cough where the voice box and windpipe become swollen. It can be caused by influenza or a cold virus. It can make breathing hard, and babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to it because they have smaller airways.

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Croup -

Croup was a big killer in the US in 1860, with a total of 15,211 people dying form it. The vast majority (around 90%) of these deaths were children under the age of five.

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Accidents -

Accidents happen, right? In 1860, a total of 18,090 people died accidentally. Over 4,000 of them died from "accidents not specified." As for those specified: 4,266 people died of burns and scalds, drowning claimed 3,121 lives, lightning killed 191 people, and 741 people died of firearm accidents.

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Accidents -

Falls accounted for 1,323 deaths, and railroad accidents claimed 599 lives. And then we have 291 Americans who died of strangulation, 2,129 who died of suffocation, and 950 were killed by poison.

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Scarlet fever -

Scarlet fever is caused by bacteria called group A streptococcus. The condition starts as strep throat and develops into scarlet fever. Symptoms include a bright red skin rash, a red tongue, and, naturally, fever.

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Scarlet fever -

A whopping 26,402 people died from scarlet fever in 1860 alone. That was 7.41% of all deaths recorded that year.

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Pneumonia -

Pneumonia can be caused by both bacterial and viral infections, and it's still a killer in this day and age.

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Pneumonia -

A total of 27,094 people fell victim to pneumonia in America in 1860.

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Consumption -

You're probably more familiar with today's term for the condition: tuberculosis. Indeed, the disease was a killer, especially before the antibiotic streptomycin was introduced in 1944.

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Consumption -

Consumption tops the list with 49,082 deaths in America in 1860. Tuberculosis accounted for nearly 14% of all deaths that year.

Sources: (United States Census Bureau) (Grunge)

See also: Here's why people die in their sleep

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