The industrialization was happening! More people were moving into cities from the country and moving to American cities from other countries. The cities were packed to the gills, mostly with very poor people whose labor kept industry running a rich people loaded. The rise of cities allowed for both young men and women to leave home for real to get jobs in the city. Though women did better economically in the worlds oldest profession than any other sort of work available to them. For the first time printing became cheap (in the 1840’s) and literacy skyrocketed. Of course the sort of stuff being published was mostly trash. There was no concept of journalistic integrity or objective reporting. Every major political candidate had a paper that sponsored him and papers had a habit of printing lies and then charging the wronged party to print a retraction. Considering the filth, sickness, poverty and general unfairness of city life it’s really no wonder life in the west was idealized. In fact I’m certain some higher ups encouraged the romance of the west to draw some of the immigrants and undesirables out of their cities. This isn’t for your homework is it?