The Erie Canal

5 Pages 1338 Words

The Erie Canal

In the early eighteen hundreds transportation lacked the efficiency and practicality that we are used to in today’s society. What were once called roads were no more then beaten paths made by animals or the constant travel of horse and wagon. Rivers were an unreliable source of transportation due to the current, constant changes in the wind, beaver damns, droughts, and of course mother-nature. The lack of transportation kept the west out of the economy for the most part. Farmers would make the trip from the west with their crop but it did not make sense for the majority of people because the cost of transportation was very high due to the slow pace and consumption of time. The farmers were not making profits which lead many to the idea of joining the east and the west, north and south to boost the economy. Roads, turnpikes, and railroads accomplished the goals of many to join America as one; with one economy. Besides these means, there was another way of transportation that is often overlooked, the canal. Canals are man made waterways that we, not mother-nature, can control that would connect two main water sources for easy transportation. The Erie Canal is a wonderful example of one such waterway that was built in record time, boosted New York’s economy and was an example of great American achievement.
After a second war against Great Britain, the War of 1812, the people of the United States were feeling confident about the future of their expanding nation. Thousands of pioneers struggled over a rough barrier: the thickly wooded Appalachian Mountains that extended down the continent. On the other side was the tantalizing west, stretching clear to the Mississippi River and beyond.
Settlers’ wagons jolted down roads that had once been Indian trails. When farmers and fur trappers got to the lonely frontier, they found that it cost too much and took too long to ship apples, flour, wood, and pelts to...