Final answer:
The new environment substantially affected settlers, leading to cultural and technical adaptation, health crises, economic and social struggles, and environmental challenges. These factors prompted settlers to innovate and adapt, but also often resulted in hardship and conflict.
Step-by-step explanation:
The new environment had a profound impact on the settlers, involving considerable adaptation and challenges. Exposure to new diseases was devastating, especially for the native population, which had no immunity leading to high mortality rates. European settlers faced cultural maladaptation requiring adaptation to new architectural and agricultural methods in a different ecosystem. Movement westward under the Homestead Act presented a harsh living environment where settlers had to be self-reliant and inventive in order to survive.
However, there were some benefits including greater mobility, leading to social and economic opportunities. Adaptation to the environment also led settlers to innovations, such as Dutch settlers applying their drainage techniques in the American Midwest. The drive for a better life often translated into acquiring land and attempting to make it productive, but this could exacerbate tensions with the Native Americans and lead to a lifestyle focused on acquisition and hardship.
Life in the new environment included the struggle with solitude and building new social relations, not to mention the impact of economic instability on family structures. Many settlers faced difficult lives with limited resources and had to adapt their lifestyle accordingly, whether it be through new farming techniques or adapting homes to the available materials and climactic conditions.