Westward Expansion Research Paper

During the 1800’s the United States were going through many changes following the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and the California Gold rush. Due to these factors along with several others caused the Westward Expansion. Life in the west consisted of three major groups, miners, cowboys, and farmers. Moving west gave poor families opportunities the chance to better themselves and provide for their loved ones. Of course, these opportunities came with a high price, the possibility of losing your life. To begin, one may wonder, what made these people move west? For miners, the sense for adventure along with the hunt for gold and silver was a huge motive that drove them west. Open range and search for wealth sent cowboys west. Lastly,

Soon after, problems occurred, and people were dying. Miners faced many problems in the west. Those being that their job was extremely dangerous. When working in this industry, it leaves employees susceptible to mercury, lead, and even arsenic poisoning. Mining is dangerous work, that causes deforestation and pollution. Living conditions for the miners were cramped and unacceptably filthy. The quality of drinking water, living conditions, and safety plummeted.
Advancements in technology like power drills and electrical lights increased production, but also increased mortality rates due to more dust and deaths by electrocution. In addition, the cowboys faced many problems as well like dangerous stampedes, cow attacks, conflicts with the farmers, and “rustlers”. “Rustlers” were people who attempted to steal cattle. Not only were the cowboys’ facing issues with people but with nature all together. The weather was rough, the landscapes were very complicated, and cowboys faced blisters from too much sun exposure. Besides the dangerous factors, majority of cowboys were single young men, who often grew depressed from being lonely. Depression in these men caused them to take their own lives while being alone in the