Erie Canal Research Paper

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The Erie Canal, one of the United States’ most profound municipal projects, revolutionized the economy and augmented New York State’s once small population. Not only is it a prime example of industrialization, but also the main asset in the uniting of the state during a period where communication and transportation were undeveloped. The canal allowed the cities that dotted its’ channel to flourish in all aspects of an evolving population. By persistently utilizing the canal, together the western and eastern cities helped New York thrive to become America’s empire state while concurrently revolutionizing as individual metropolises. In addition, New York City has immensely benefited both economically and culturally from the construction and…show more content…
However the city accumulated a sufficient amount of traffic for sightseeing. During the war of 1812, British invaders burnt the city down leaving it in ruins and in desperate need of revitalization. A few years later, the matter of determining a terminus for the Erie Canal came up and in search of an encouraging component to the city’s reconstruction, Buffalo sought to become the canal’s western end point. However, the city did not have a navigable port for lake Erie ships and canal boats. Samuel Wilkeson, the mayor of Buffalo at the time, devised a tactic to build a navigable harbor in Buffalo. After 221 days of human based labour during the year of 1820, five years before the canal’s completion, Wilkeson’s proposal was completed and Buffalo was selected as the Erie Canal’s western final station. After this decision, Buffalo became a great metropolis and the most essential port of distribution of goods not only along the Erie Canal but also well known throughout America. The city was now where Great Lakes Shipping and Erie Canal carriers met. Grain was one of the most important of all goods that came through the city’s port, making Buffalo the busiest grain-transfer port in the world. Harvested oak timber was another significant export due to the great quantities of white oak that grew next…show more content…
Once opened, the canal dropped shipping costs from New York to the Midwest by ninety percent. Shipping time was cut by one-third increasing trade for New York City businesses. Settlers who sought to travel upstate New York and even points further west introduced a wave of traffic increasing business in the city as well. In terms of population, during the 1770s, New York City was only the fifth largest city in population in the country. The canal opened up new markets to the port of New York City as exports of natural resources from the west passed to the east. Because New York City was closer to Europe than most other cities, it became a primary port for European immigrants who pursued travelling up the Hudson River and across the Erie Canal to settle in the Old Northwest. The increasing population attracted workers, businessmen and families, quadrupling the population from 125, 706 to 515, 547 in 1850. New York City became the Atlantic port of choice over other developing cities such as New Orleans and Montreal. It conquered associated areas such as communications, finance, law and publishing leading it to be the cultural center of the
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