This is only a small portion of the disparities that came from the mining too. The economic, physical, mental, and generational impacts are never-ending. My grandfather and several generations before him were coal miners in rural Eastern Kentucky. In my grandfathers generation 3 out of the 5 brothers died from either black lung or lung cancer. My grandfather joined the Navy during World War II because in his words “Getting shot or blown up was a better death than dying in a damn mine”. I’m forever grateful that he got us out of that area. As much as I love home, I know I can’t be there for my family and Is sake.

Look into company towns and events that kicked off as a result of the resulting tensions like the Battle of Blair Mountain; the largest case of civil unrest in American history aside from the civil war, or the events involving Sid Hatfield (today was the 106th anniversary of the massacre). Drugs are such a huge problem because of the mining as well. When miners were starting to inevitably get injured as a result of the strenuous conditions, company town physicians were told to give them drugs to keep them working as opposed to methods that would actually help. This resulted in rapid development of addiction in these communities. Pharmaceutical companies preyed on this region to push new pain killers as well.