How the Erie Canal Helped Build a Nation

We sometimes take for granted the relative ease with which we travel from one point to another compared to the generations that came before us.  While Henry Ford is well known for his contribution of the Model T automobile as affordable transportation in the early 20th century, almost one hundred years earlier an engineering feat was completed that became the spark which ignited New York into becoming the commercial center it is today.  The Erie Canal was this monumental undertaking that helped birth a new era of commerce for the United States.

With highways and bridges surrounding us today, it might be difficult to imagine what was so special about building a canal or even why it was needed. In the early 1800s before the canal was built, it took weeks to travel through the Northwest Territories (what we now know as part of the Great Lakes region) for timber and other materials used by the growing nation. There also were no teams of engineers to consult as there would be for such a project today.

The New York governor at the time, DeWitt Clinton, saw the possibility of the state and especially the city of New York becoming an international trade center. An easier way to bring settlers past the Appalachian Mountains was also needed. But that wouldn't happen without a better way of traveling than what was then rugged terrain and unreliable roads. Clinton's vision was initially scoffed at and dubbed Clinton's Folly or Clinton's Big Ditch by those who doubted that a canal connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River could be completed.

With perseverance and the then phenomenal sum of $7 million approved by the state legislature for the project, Clinton's vision came true in 1825. He took part in a symbolic Marriage of the Waters ceremony at the opening of the canal by traveling from Lake Erie to New York City and pouring water from the lake into the Atlantic Ocean.

The original canal was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide and could accommodate boats carrying up to 30 tons of freight. The canal underwent expansions as traffic grew. It is now 363 miles long and 120 to 200 feet wide in different areas. Once Erie proved to be a success, more canals were built including the Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca Canals which along with Erie are all part of the area designated the National Heritage Corridor in New York.

As the transportation boom continued, railroads would eventually become the lifeline of the nation. Because of this and the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the canal system now is used mainly by recreational boating enthusiasts.

The areas along the corridor attract students of history looking for an educational getaway as well as tourists taking an Erie Canal cruise to relax and remember its importance in building a nation.

References:

• Erie Canal: A Brief History. New YorkStateCanal System: Erie, Champlain, Oswego and CayugaSenecaCanals. February 2009 (access date).
• Sadowski, Jr., Frank E. Clinton's Big Ditch. The Erie Canal. 2000-2007. February 2009