The difficulty in the transportation of goods from Old Northwest to the East Coast lead to the construction of the Erie canal which seemed impossible but is completed successfully and impacted America in many ways. The search for efficient routes through the Appalachian Mountains gives birth to the idea of the Erie Canal. During the earlier 1800’s farmland was becoming scarce on the East Coast. As a result many farmers traveled west over the Appalachian Mountains where there was plenty of rich farmland in the Old Northwest for them to cultivate (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
People who settled in the Old Northwest faced the problem of transporting the goods East through the Appalachian Mountains. The only water way for transportation was the Mohawk River which still did not get travelers and goods entirely to the East Coast. This caused many to ship goods by land which was costly and time consuming (Sheriff 251-253).
Benson, Brannen and Valentine describe the East’s interest and concern in constructing a route saying, “Eastern port cities, such as Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and New York City, competed vigorously to be the first to forge transportation links with the Old Northwest” (515-519).
The mountains were a huge obstacle though making it almost impossible to build any sort of transportation such as roads, trains, or canals. Except in New York there was a passage low enough for the possibility of a water passage (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
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The problems of transportation and construction of an efficient route sparks the idea of building the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal project faced many obstacles to be completed and seemed like an impossible task yet goes very smoothly and is a success.
The first obstacle was finding support for funding. Many people doubted the Erie Canal project would succeed because the canal would be significantly bigger than anything attempted before (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
Sheriff describes peoples doubt saying, “the prospect of a 363-mile canal seemed hopelessly impractical to even some enlightened minds” (251-253).
The largest canal in the United States at the time was 27 miles long and the Erie Canal being 363 miles long would be about thirteen times that.
Even with peoples’ uncertainty New York’s governor, Dewitt Clinton, was able to obtain support for the project (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
Construction was approved and began in 1817 and the canal was dug from Albany to Buffalo. The canal was to be dug 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide (A Brief History 2).
Another obstacle was the fact that there were no civil engineers in the United States at the time, so four amateurs were put in charge of the construction instead. This obstacle is overcome though by the innovation of these four amateur engineers.
Instead of the slow method of digging with shovels and using wheelbarrows, they had plows and scrapers pulled by animals to dig the canal. They also invented clever tools that could quickly clear trees with one man and have the stumps pulled out with only seven people. The workers consisted mostly of local farmers, mechanics, and a few Irish immigrants. Work went along smoothly no problems arose from the workers or from the engineering aspect of the building the canal. The construction of the canal was completed in October 1825 (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
Though many doubted in the project and there were no professional engineers in charge, the construction of the canal was a success that has a great impact on America. The Erie Canal had many positive impacts that helped America but a few that caused problems. One of the largest positive impacts was on the economy. Once the canal was made all of the raw goods from the West went to New York and they sent back finished goods allowing their economy to flourish (Sheriff 251-253).
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The Erie Canal also greatly reduced cost of shipping to the East (Commentary on Erie 1).
It used to cost 100 dollars to ship one ton to New York but after the canal it only cost 8 dollars a ton and was much faster than shipping on land. This cheaper cost also caused cities along the Erie Canal to grow tremendously in population and the economy along the canal to grow (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
Erie Canal also inspired canal building across America further advancing the transportation of goods throughout America (Commentary on Erie 1).
A negative effect of the canal was it increased the spread of deadly diseases like small pox and cholera affecting those along the canal and in New York.
Also some religious people did not like the sale of alcohol on Sunday on boats in the canal (Benson, Brannen, and Valentine 515-519).
The Erie Canal had huge affects on America boosting the economy, inspiring the construction of canals, and the spread of disease. In the endeavors of creating a better way to transport goods from Old Northwest to the East Coast the Erie Canal was built despite the obstacles it faced and ended up changing America. The Erie was built to assist trade between Old Northwest and the East Coast.
The project was controversial whether or not it would work. It did work and it had a huge affect on America’s Northern economy and initiated the building of many other canals. The Erie Canal was very important without it America may have had even more economic trouble over time. Works Cited “A Brief History of the Erie Canal. ” The Erie Canal Museum. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://eriecanalmuseum. org/>. Benson, Sonia, Daniel E. Brannen, and Rebecca Valentine. “Erie Canal. ” UXL Encyclopedia of U. S. History. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 15-519. Gale U. S. History In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://ic. galegroup. com/>. “Commentary on Erie Canal at Lockport, New York. ” The Civil War. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. Gale U. S. History In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://ic. galegroup. com/>. Sheriff, Carol. “Erie Canal. ” Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 251-253. Gale U. S. History In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://ic. galegroup. com/>.
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