Erie Canal Essay

The Erie Canal

*The Erie Canal. Seemingly a tiny part of American history and development, this waterway changed transportation in the United States forever. This canal helped goods get transported all across the country, and improved frontier life. The Erie Canal turned New York into the economic powerhouse it is today, and paved the way for today's shipping systems.

*New York had a problem. In the early 1800s, they had many goods coming into their ports, but it would take months to transport them across the country. The Appalacian Mountains stood in the way. Bulk transportation of these goods could not be done, because a horse and buggy could not get over the mountains. The lack of an efficient transportation system confined populations

The construction of this canal gave direct access to the Great Lakes and regions of the Midwest. Because of this, New York became the economic epicenter of the country, and primary port for European immigrants. Due to all the new immigrants, New York's population quadrupled between 1820 and 1825. The Erie Canal also provided a huge economic boost to the United States by allowing the transport of goods at one-tenth the previous cost in less than half the time. By 1853, the Erie Canal carried 62 percent of all U.S. trade. For the first time, manufactured goods such as furniture and clothing could be shipped to the

It was too small. Larger boats could not fit in the 4ft deep canal, and even smaller ones had trouble passing through. The canal was enlarged twice between 1905 and 1918. This made the canal two times wider, and much deeper. Some parts were rerouted to make way for more ship traffic in 1918. However, commercial and shipping traffic declined abruptly after the completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The new waterway along the US-Canada border allowed large ships access the Great Lakes directly from the Atlantic Ocean, bypassing the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal still serves as a niche freight function, and is sometimes used to move projects too large for road or rail. Sadly, though parts of the canal are still operable, the main source of boat traffic comes from pleasure boats and kayakers.

*Even though the canal is more of a monument and less of a water highway, it is still very much appreciated by the public. This canal was a trailblazer in shipping processes and quick goods transport. This changed the lives of so many frontier people. Without this canal, pioneers might not have ever made homesteads in the west, or had access to the resources beyond the Appalachians. The Erie Canal improved so many frontier lives, and without it, people's daily lives might've looked a lot different.

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