The nineteenth century saw a shift from simple Puritan death practices to more symbolic and stratified Protestant death practices. Due to the rapid growth of cities and industrialization, death started to morph from a family-run affair to a highly structured and profitable business venture. Clear divisions emerged in urban centers in the nineteenth century. While death is an egalitarian concept, many wealthy and middle-class people wanted to demonstrate their prosperity and respectability through death practices. A funeral for a wealthy person would include preparations of the body in the home, transportation by relatives and friends to the grave site, and finally entombment in a particular place. Poor people, criminals, and African Americans …show more content…
Wealthy people could hand out linen scarves and purchase expensive mourning clothes to show their grief and status. As the population in cities grew, the living were increasingly pushing out the dead of city spaces. It became popular among wealthy and middle-class people to bury their dead in a rural, tranquil, and private cemetery. People also wanted their dead to be buried underground to preserve the beauty of the cemetery. Upper-class people’s desire for a tranquil and garden-like cemetery stems from Romanticism. People’s respect and awe of nature are incorporated into death practices. Also, the coffin was now called a casket, emphasizing the special nature of the remains. Upper-class people’s newfound desire for respectability and prestige in death was a business opportunity. The industrialization of the North saw the rise of entrepreneurs who were ready to provide services for a changing society. Entrepreneurs responded to the upper class’ desires for respectability. Hearse and coffin businesses boomed. Instead of the family dealing with organizing everything for a person’s funeral, people could now lend some of those responsibilities to others for a