New York, the city of dreams, the land of riches, all because of the great canal. Begun in the 1817 and opened in its entirety 1825, the Erie Canal is considered the engineering marvel of the 19th century and will be that way for many years to come. The canal was 363 miles long and connected New York to the Great Lakes. The once derided as "Clinton's Folly" which is now known as the Erie Canal alternated by creating a vibrant economy, spreading religion, and growth in population along the new transportation network.
The Erie Canal has a considerably colossal effect on not only enhancing New York but also quickly escalating America's incomes. As chart 2 displays, when they had engineered the Erie Canal they couldn't imagine the magnitude of change this would bring. From 1825 to 1855 the were spending 200,000 dollars on things like repairing the canal, yet they were acquiring 450,000 dollars creating a profit of 250,000 dollars. " Within 15 years of the
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"A new understanding of how the spiritual transformation of the individual might bring about change was taking place," (Doc E). Before the Erie Canal humanity thought that your whole life was a destiny and you couldn't change that. "The so-called Burned-Over District, the religion of New York State most changed by the opening of the Erie Canal, was a seedbed of religious and reform movements," (Map 1). The Burned-Over District was where the Second Great Awakening happened so this was a tremendous change for them. This new religion told them that they had the capability to control their destiny and that your choices judge where you end up. "Social and religious upheavals during this time period were considerable," (Doc F). Many of the reforms that came after were broadly supported by religion. Although religion had a big impact on America, it also gave them a cutting-edge and cheaper transportation