Did you know the wheel ruts from the Oregon Trail wagons are still visible today? Many look at that fact and think,”Why should I care?”. That is understandable, but after this essay, everyone will have a deeper understanding of the sufferings of those on the Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail was the main path of travel during the Westward Expansion. Around five hundred thousand people went on it, and their calamities still be sensed. The people on the Oregon Trail faced the most hardships due to the weather, loss of resources, and diseases. To begin with, the people on the Oregon Trail faced the most difficulties because of the weather. First off, even the most common weather had drastic impacts on their journey. Including rain, which was difficult because, “there was no shelter on open plains and covered wagons leaked” (Lemke). The simplest nature changes like this on the Oregon Trail caused the important items on their wagons like food and clothing to get soaked, which resulted in a depletion of necessary supplies, harming them long-term. Furthermore, if the most basic climate brought about such an alarm, one could only imagine the effects of a disastrous storm, which caused, “Half a dozen people killed by lightning strikes” …show more content…
First of all, the great range of diseases made it almost impossible to stay healthy. “The diseases ranged from the measles, smallpox, mountain fever, and cholera, the biggest problem, leaving people dead in 2 hours” (Trinklein). This quote shows how there were many diseases, multiplying the travelers’ chances of death. Another piece of evidence that shows how life on the Oregon Trail was hard is the medical knowledge at the time. “Most people who died during the trip west became ill from disease which there was no cure at the time” (Underwood). Since they traveled the trial in that time period, there was no medical help available on a deserted
For instance, “there was much sickness among the emigrants.” Grant Foreman the author of an online source announces, Rebecca dealt with horrific sickness around her on her tragic exposition. Consequently, she was lucky enough to not die and survived through the arduous trip. Lastly, Rebecca was not one of the people that died during that dreadful time period. For instance, “After they arrived in Indian Territory more Cherokees succumbed to famine and disease” teaching history with historian, Ellen Holmes which whom reveals that the settlement was just as hard as the trail of tears.
During the first period of time many got sick from disease, since many weren't use to the new colony. 40 men died that period during the winter. Droughts were also a concern, many berries and natural resources were scarce, causing them look more. Water also affected them, they had to drink salt water, which many could have
After law school Parkman proceeded of what he desired. He learned how to sleep and hunt, and could survive alone by himself. Parkman has accomplished the desire that he had, he has wrote many books and has been recognized for such thing. In the document it tells the difficulty of traveling the Oregon Trail and why the Oregon Trail is so important at the time.
During the Oregon trail, you were completely alone with either yourself or your family. Comparatively, if you or someone in your family was a doctor it helped loads but that was not the majority. According to the primary source, Amelia Stewart was pregnant the entire journey without it being an issue,” A few days later my eighth child was born.” Meanwhile, according to an online source getting sick is very dangerous and many passed quickly, “It could attack a perfectly healthy person after breakfast and he would be in his grave by noon.” Subsequently found in the same text (https://oregontrailcenter.org/dangers#:~:text=Crossing%20rivers%20were%20probably%20the,water%2C%20causing%20wagons%20to%20overturn.)
— Virginia Reed, daughter of James Reed. A tragic story of the Donner party is a very harrowing adventure through the journey of the big group and how about half of the people lived to tell the tale. On April 16, 1846 nine wagons were reported departing from Springfield Illinois on a journey of what is now called the Oregon Trail. Formerly known as the northern trail there were a lot of advantages and disadvantages to the Oregon trail there was more land and wonderful
The village that the Pioneer Women and others lived in was extremely remote, so the people living there had to be very independent and capable on their own. Baca explained, “The women had to be versed in the curative powers of plants and in midwifery” (404). The villagers could not rely on anyone else for help because “there were no doctors for two hundred miles or more.” This was until many outbreaks of smallpox infected the village.
hook: Approximately 20,000 people died while traveling on the Oregon Trail, this fact alone is nearly enough to support the idea that American western expansion, due to the manifest destiny, was not justified. However, some other reasons why America was not justified in its expansion were that the settlers treated the natives harshly and inhumanely for no discernible reasoning, also the traveling was too much of a gamble, and finally that modern-day America is against imperialistic expansion. background info: thesis: America was not justified in its western expansion due to the lack of morality behind putting one person’s comfort above the safety of another. claim 1: Modern day America is against the taking of another country’s land
During the gold rush many Americans cross the country to get to California. Many of whom died along the way. Because of this there should be a memorial to remember them by. For without them America wouldn’t be as it is today.
Located along the broad, coastal plain of the Atlantic, it offered port along the shore and made for a good defensive location. Since the southern colonies were the warmest of the three regions, the colonists did not have to worry about surviving harsh winters like the northern regions would have to. Unfortunately, the warm climate carried diseases that killed many colonists and reduced the life expectancy to about 40 years old. The group of men who had left England went to the New World hoping to expand their market for manufactured goods.
After years of waiting and preparing we started on the journey to the west. We made our way to Independence, Missouri to go on the Oregon Trail which was laid by traders and trapers. While there I became familiar with George Wilson who was also a working family man. A lot of families left together making the trail busy and causing jams..
It is estimated that approximately 95% of pre-Columbus Native Americans were killed by European diseases. Since the outbreak of the diseases spread because of the European colonization, it made conquering the Americas much easier. Health was definitely the most detrimental obstacle that the Native Americans had to face as a result of the European
“ Disease in the early years to Jamestown position at the salt freshwater transition, where filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather them flush away” (Blanton). Settlers didn 't know about bacteria in dirty water so they drank it unknowingly and many got diseases. In the early 1600s there was a drought (Science ). This source comes from science magazine. The purpose of this source is to inform and it contains no bias, it has reliable information that proves that the colonists died because of environmental issues.
These were diseases that the English were not used to. For the English to be infected, it must have been awful with the lack of resources the English collected. “The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts,” represents the amount of rain received every year based on the average amount of rainfall. It also shows the droughts that happened in those few years. On top of the brackish waters and the position of the water transition, the drought just made the colonists’ fresh water supply even smaller.
According to an Oregon population graph which showed the population of Native Americans and non-Indians, the Native American population dropped drastically between the years 1805 and 1841, while the non-Indian population increased greatly between the years 1841 and 1870. The vast amount of Americans moving Westward resulted in many Native Americans dying. An extensive part of Native American deaths were a result of the new diseases that Americans brought while traveling through American Indian territory. Due to the fact that many of the Native Americans had never experienced these
In the 1840s, travelers had to eat dead horses and mules that died of exhaustion while pulling wagons. In modern day, people can stop at a restaurant for food along the way. In present time, people also have hotels to sleep in and to bathe in while traveling, but people traveling to Oregon had to sleep outside on the ground and had to bathe in