Yeah it was developing but still much much better than any other part of the world. People lined up to come to the US in order to do that difficult work. The American dream was simple: a home with a white picket fence. And the technological innovations that were achieved may not have been possible in other circumstances or may have taken longer to be discovered. Innovations like the steam engine allowed for automation of these monotonous jobs and a rising standard of living. But government always stifles innovation. Their mandates and regulations slow down human progress. And the easiest way for a government to do that is through the establishment of a central bank. A utopic alternate reality where central banks were prevented from being established is one I think about often.