Death in modern North American history

Patterns of death in much of North America ¹ since around 1800 in many ways resemble those in western Europe – often, with remarkably similar timing and causation. The historic reduction in infant mortality, for example, concentrated particularly in the four decades after 1880 on both sides of the North Atlantic and for essentially the same reasons. But there are distinctions are well, some reflecting differences in the physical environment. American cemeteries, for example, became and remain more expansive simply because of more available space, a factor that more recently has affected rates of adoption of cremation as well. Racial divisions, primarily in the United States, complicate a number of trends, from outright mortality rates to death cultures, through the whole modern period. Greater American religiosity, despite fluctuations, lends a somewhat more traditional quality to some death practices, as a number of European observers have noted. These and other factors contribute to a modern history that has a definite regional stamp.