The Ohio and Erie Canal was a major key in the economic development, growth, and prosperity of Ohio as one of the largest cities in United States. In the eighteenth century, Ohio was mostly a forestry wilderness with small towns that farmers lived in. The only transportation systems were the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. However, using these rivers was not a profitable or safe method to transport goods in and out of the state. And so, the need for a transportation system was essential to the farmers to export goods in and out of Ohio. The Ohio and Erie Canal system allowed the economic development and the rise of some of the largest cities in Ohio like Cleveland, Akron and Toledo.
Once Ohio became a state in 1803, political pressure increased for the need of a reliable transportation system to connect the east to the west, which then included Ohio. In the middle…show more content… Later, came the panic of 1819, the first major financial crisis in the United States. The panic reassured the fact that without a transportation system, Ohioans will not have a reliable income. Ethan Allen Brown, later recognized as the “Father of Ohio Canals,” was elected governor in 1818. Governor Brown urged the congress to the idea that building a canal would result in a huge financial profit and benefits to the state; as a result the canal act was passed in 1822. After the success of the Erie Canal in New York it was not that hard of a decision to see what would become if the canals were built. The canal construction