Tnere are many answers to this question, but if it is open responsed say that it helped grow the economy and because of the less land; it helped expand to the west; where they learned that they could have a better life style because of the fertitility of the soil, the climate, and the un used and vast amount of supplies. In short without mining and ranching; it would have tooken us a lot longer to expand and build other economies.
Answer:nMining played an important role in the settling of the American West. Demand for minerals rose dramatically after the Civil War as the United States changed from a farming nation to an industrial nation. Mining also led to the building of railroads to connect the mines to factories back east.
