AS you can imagine life without forests means the carbon from trees was stored in the atmosphere causing air pollution in America. Canals were formed in the shallow areas of water so that mules could pull the boats inland. Travel time was extremely slow and averaged about five miles per hour, but on the plus side one mule could pull fifty tons. The Erie Canal was a very impressive canal that was built in 1825. It covered a mass of three hundred and fifty miles.
With the creation of systems such as steamboats and the Eire Canal, urban systems expanding appearing all over areas such as the Mississippi River. The Eire Canal allowed the Atlantic Ocean to be connected directly to the Great Lakes through New York and Albany, which in turn allowed them to be connected to the Mississippi. The Mississippi and the Great Lakes were already existing natural landscapes, but the creation of the new transportation system of the Eire Canal imposed a new geography to them, allowing them to become a central backbone to the American Transportation system. Transportation choices, such as the Eire Canal, allow the American transportation system to avoid constraints provided by natural landscapes, and fully take advantage of their opportunities. One example of this was the steamboat sublime, which removed the constraints on the Mississippi River that limited the movement of vessels to be only able to travel downstream.
In her book, “The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862”, author Carol Sheriff reveals that the creation of the Erie Canal fostered both pride in American republicanism and an underlining start to class tensions. Sheriff backs her discussion by highlighting in the chapter, “The Triumph of Art over Nature”, how higher class citizens cherished the idea of republicanism being represented in the Canal, yet the people who constructed this feat had no characteristic of this idea. The author’s purpose is to educate the reader so they understand that class tension stem from the fact that canal workers were seen as an oversight in credit for building this Canal and contributing to the progression of America. The Erie Canal represented not only American’s optimistic vision for progress but inequality between men of different classes. This inequality would ultimately be contradictory to the republicanism idea of freedom and citizenship in America.
By the 1840s steamboats helped reduce transit time to 18-20 days (Cortés Lecture October 31). The cost of transporting goods drooped a great 95% between 1815 and 1860 due to the speed of the steamboats (Cortés Lecture October 31). An additional great improvement was the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal linked the Hudson River to Lake Erie, whited opened a water route between the Northwest and New York City (Murrin p.g 295).
The Erie Canal was important to New York City’s trade for many reasons. First, the Erie Canal created a transportation system that allowed goods to easily flow between the Great lakes and New York City. Second the creation of the canal attracted an influx of farmers who were migrating from New England. This influx of farmers led to the creation of cities like Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse along the canal. The Most important effect of the Erie Canal on New York City’s trade was its effect on trade on a larger scale.
Spanning from northern Minnesota to New Orleans, man quickly realized the Mississippi river could be used to transport cargo and people. With the invention of the steamboat, this idea quickly came into fruition, allowing cargo and people to travel long distances. But the river proved hazardous to traverse, with sandbars, reefs, and hanging branches especially the Upper Mississippi. Later, the construction of the Louisville and Portland canal helped expand commerce, allowing travel from Pittsburg to New Orleans. Abraham Lincoln at a young age became interested in steamboats, due to a childhood experience of earning money ferrying people across the river.
Canal Era was between 1825-1840’s The Erie Canal was a 363-mile canal and completely built in the 1825. The canal was located in New York and helped to create a water route to the Atlantic Ocean and also the Great Lakes. As the canal boom Robert Fulton installed a steam engine on the Clermont, which made two-way river
From 1817-1825, immigrants and native New Yorkers alike worked year round by hand and with the help of animals to complete the canal, which finally opened in October 26, 1825. Early on, horses and mules worked the canal system taking turns with boats in long shifts carrying cargo with towlines. At the beginning, the canal could accommodate thirty tons of freight. Travel on the canal to Buffalo from Albany took about five days. When traveled by stage coach, the route took about two weeks.
These new canals would cause people to spread out and build their homes along them to make it easier to ship their items. In a diary written by a traveler they describe the journey down the newly built Erie Canal and how convenient and cheap it was (American Yawp Reader: A Traveler Describes Life Along the Eerie Canal, N.A.). Railroads began in 1828 and these became a very popular way to ship goods. Because of all these new technologies for shipping these people also needed somewhere to mass produce the item.
Building of canals improved the process to speed goods to market. Erie Canal was an important canal that connected the great Lakes to New York City, opening the upper Midwest to wider development. The canals were also the first transportation system between New York City along the western part of the United States. Indeed, canals was a very efficient way to transport supplies, it’s was a cheaper way. The Erie made a huge impact and contribution to the wealth of New York City.
First of all, the Erie canal made a lot of money for the U.S. It made 121 million dollars by 1882. That is a lot of money, even today. Merchants would travel up and down the canal and trade with people. They would stop in towns and stay for a few days and then move to the next.
As was stated in the previous paragraph, on boat you could carry 1 ton and you would only have to pay $6. Another great advantage about the Erie canal was that the Erie canal was the faster way. In chart one it showed how the dirt road took 15-45 days to travel the Erie Canal. On the other hand, it only took 9 days to travel the Erie canal by boat. It became easy to start your business because since the Erie canal was so cheap, you could travel far and not have to pay that much.
As American factories and farms started to produce more goods businessmen and legislators began to create a faster and cheaper way to get goods distributed to consumers. Around 1820, Americans began to build canals and steamboats, railroad, and extend roads linking the Atlantic Coast with new states in the Trans Appalachian west. Canals and Steamboats shrunk the distance of carrying goods from one place to another and could haul the most cargo for transportation. A well-known waterway called the Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Ocean and cost 7 million dollars.
The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.
Capitalism Capitalism hinges on an open market, paid work, and private businesses (not state ones). Although discussed heavily later, Chapter 5 is the first instance where readers see how capitalism finishes the Joad farm tenure. They not only can’t pay the bank but also they can’t pay the landlords for the land and space of their home. Steinbeck is heavily against the capitalist system, because it leads to a large homeless farmer population, many of them stuck in poverty. Another reason for his hatred of this economic system is because, it doesn’t just hurt farmers - it creates a terrible repeating process that owners and residents can’t escape from, regardless of any attempts made to do so.
