Final answer:
The settlement of the West had both positive and negative effects on people. It encouraged mobility, provided raw materials for factories, and led to political changes. However, it also resulted in increased demands on slaves, wage labor, and conflicts with indigenous people.
Step-by-step explanation:
People were more positively affected by the settlement of the West in various ways. One positive impact was the greater mobility it encouraged among the American people. Settlers spread into the territory beyond the Appalachian Mountains to improve their social and economic position. They staked land claims and put the land into production, providing raw materials for factories in the Northeast. Additionally, the social changes brought about by settlement led to political changes, such as states moving toward universal white male suffrage.
However, there were also negative effects. When pioneers' wives stopped spinning cloth at home, they had to produce more cash crops to purchase cloth, or when slaveholders moved west, the demands on their slaves often increased. Many young men and women ended up working for wages in workshops and factories for most of their lives. Moreover, the settlement in less populated regions led to conflicts between settlers and the indigenous people living on the land.