Erie Canal Research Paper

The Erie Canal
Christopher Spencer
September 18, 2013
HIST101 i015

The Erie Canal was a very important event during the year of 1825. Many things changed with the building of the canal. The canal would make life easier for those in the North, and pave the way for even bigger and better events to come. Transportation would never be the same after the implementation and completion of the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal would connect the Hudson River and Lake Erie through Troy, NY. The Canal would stretch from Troy to Buffalo. The Canal would also connect to New York City through the Hudson River that flowed to the NYC port and the left side of the borough of Manhattan. 1 This would connect areas
The first construction of the canal began in Rome, New York. The construction ended in Buffalo in 1825. The Erie Canal cost seven million dollars to build and was paid off by using tolls which were disbanded when the cost was paid for. A project this size was almost unheard of during the time, and the cost of the project seemed insurmountable. The tolls paid off the cost of the construction within a decade which is an amazing feat. 2
The canal used already existing means of transportation and made them better. Many locks were used to safely move ships from point A to point B. The use of the lakes made transportation quicker and the ability to make existing technology thrive and to be profitable. The use of the lock systems and other new systems to allow larger ships to travel smaller beds of water was incredible. 3
The success of the early canal made it necessary to improve it later on for better access by larger ships and to make the trips even quicker. The United States would change even further through the implementation of this one feat of engineering. The Erie Canal would also open the gateway for the development of the railroad which would see an even greater growth for the
The canal would also be a great way to bring the colonial people and those that were settled in uncolonized areas to the west.
The Erie Canal started to branch out and do what George Washington wanted to do. By opening transportation that spanned 343 miles from one city to the next, the Erie Canal opened the floodgates on how to expand even further. The ideas that came would become the reason that the country was settled and not owned in part by other countries.
Taking into account all the benefits of the Erie Canal its success was short lived however. The Invention of the railroad made its use limited and today it is used sparingly while the rails are still an important part of shipping products.
The Erie Canal was very important to the development of the United States as it opened migration and started the journey westward. Without the Erie Canal many future events might not have happened such as the Railroad and the country could be very different today. The legacy that the Erie Canal left is astounding. It started the further growth that the country needed to survive and the added land would be the breeding ground for many historical figures and