Omar Bennett
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Construction began in 1817 and was completed in 1825. The canal covers a distance of 363 miles, and was a major engineering feat at the time, traversing fields, forests, and rocky cliffs. The canal had a significant impact on the economy and population of New York, reducing transportation costs and stimulating migration to the region. It expanded the government's right to take private property and changed property law in the state. The success of the Erie Canal also encouraged the construction of other canals across the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Length | 363 miles (584 km) |
| Width | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Depth | 4 feet (1.2 m) |
| Locks | 83 |
| Construction time | 8 years |
| Construction start year | 1817 |
| Opening year | 1825 |
| Opening date | October 26, 1825 |
| Construction cost | $7 million |
| Construction type | Hand and animal power |
| Builders | Irish and U.S.-born labourers |
| Engineering school | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) |
| Connection | The Hudson River and Lake Erie |
| Purpose | Transporting people and goods |
| Impact | Reduced transportation costs, accelerated settlement, and economic growth |
| Current use | Recreational vessels and commercial barge-towing |
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What You'll Learn
The Erie Canal's construction
The construction of the Erie Canal began in 1817 and was completed in 1825. It was a massive project that spanned 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, making it the longest artificial waterway in North America at the time. The canal was a landmark civil engineering achievement and played a significant role in the early history of the United States.
The idea of a canal to connect the East Coast to the western settlements via New York's waterways was first discussed as early as 1724 by New York provincial official Cadwallader Colden. However, it wasn't until the 1780s that a formal survey was conducted, and in 1808, the New York State Legislature authorized construction. DeWitt Clinton, a former NYS legislator, was the most persistent and effective promoter of the canal. He won preliminary legislative approval in 1816 and was named commissioner for the project.
The construction of the canal was a challenging and labour-intensive endeavour. The project engineers and contractors had little experience building canals, and most of the labour was done by hand and animal power. An estimated 50,000 labourers, including a large contingent of Irish immigrants, worked to fell trees, excavate, and blast through rocks using hand drills and black powder. They devised equipment to uproot trees and pull stumps and developed hydraulic cement that hardened under water. The Lockport Flight was one of the most challenging parts of the canal to build, with a staircase of five sets of locks blasted through the solid rock of the Niagara escarpment.
The canal was initially 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with towpaths on either side. It cut through fields, forests, rocky cliffs, and swamps, crossed rivers on aqueducts, and overcame hills with 83 lift locks. The construction of the Erie Canal transformed New York City into the nation's principal seaport and opened up the interior of North America for settlement. It accelerated the westward expansion of the United States and solidified its national identity.
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Its economic impact
The Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, had a profound economic impact on the United States, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest regions. It was the longest artificial waterway and the greatest public works project in North America at the time. The canal's economic effects can be categorized into several key areas:
Reduced Transportation Costs and Increased Trade
The canal significantly lowered the cost of shipping goods and people between the Midwest and the Northeast, particularly across the Appalachian Mountains. For example, freight rates dropped by 90% compared to shipping by ox-drawn wagon. This reduction in transportation costs made goods more affordable and encouraged trade. Midwestern produce and manufactured goods from the East could now be exchanged more economically, benefiting farmers, manufacturers, and consumers alike.
Rise of New York City
The Erie Canal played a pivotal role in establishing New York City as America's premier port, commercial center, and gateway to the interior. Before the canal, ports like New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Baltimore were more prominent. New York City's access to the Midwest through the canal gave it a competitive advantage, quadrupling its population between 1820 and 1850. The city became the nation's busiest port, most populous city, and a hub for banking and finance.
Stimulated Economic Development
The canal acted as a catalyst for economic development and industrialization. It spurred the growth of cities, towns, and villages along its route, earning it the nickname "Mother of Cities." Property values along the canal increased significantly, sometimes by up to 360%. The availability of a wider variety of goods, including fresh oysters from the Atlantic Coast, improved the standard of living for people in the region.
Enabled Migration and Settlement
The canal facilitated westward expansion and settlement, providing a direct water route to the Midwest. It triggered large-scale emigration to sparsely populated areas of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois. This migration strengthened economic and social ties between the Northeast and the Midwest, contributing to the nation's unity and reinforcing connections between the eastern seaboard and the West.
Encouraged Further Canal-Building
The success of the Erie Canal inspired a wave of canal-building across the United States. While none replicated the success of the New York waterway, these projects demonstrated the country's commitment to "internal improvements" and contributed to the development of civil engineering expertise.
Annual Economic Impact
Even today, the Erie Canal continues to have an economic impact. Businesses, farms, factories, and communities alongside its banks utilize its waters for various purposes, including irrigation, hydroelectricity, research, industry, and drinking water. The canal system is estimated to have a total economic impact of $6.2 billion annually.
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The canal's influence on law
The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, was a significant civil engineering achievement in the United States. It was the longest artificial waterway in North America, traversing 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo and connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. The canal's construction and operation had a substantial impact on various legal aspects, including property law, water access jurisprudence, and nuisance law.
One of the most notable legal impacts of the Erie Canal was its influence on property law in New York. The construction of the canal involved the appropriation of private land, which expanded the government's right to take private property. This expansion of government powers led to a broader interpretation of "public use" in the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Cases surrounding the canal contributed to the development of condemnation theory, allowing canal builders to acquire private land for public use.
The canal also had an impact on water access and usage laws. With the canal providing a direct water route from New York City to the Midwest, regulations and laws governing water access and usage became more defined and standardised. The canal's operation likely influenced the allocation of water rights, water usage priorities, and the management of water resources, especially in the context of transportation and commerce.
The Erie Canal's success and the economic development it spurred led to the emergence of new legal considerations and regulations. The canal's contribution to the growth of cities and towns along its route, such as Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, likely resulted in the formulation and adaptation of local laws and ordinances to manage the increased population, commercial activities, and social dynamics.
Additionally, the canal's role in facilitating transportation and trade may have influenced contract law and commercial regulations. The increased movement of goods and people along the canal would have led to a rise in commercial transactions, potentially driving the development of standardised commercial laws and regulations to govern trade, contracts, and business operations.
Overall, the Erie Canal's construction and operation had a significant impact on various legal aspects in New York and beyond. It shaped property law, expanded the interpretation of "public use," influenced water access jurisprudence, and likely contributed to the development of new laws and regulations to manage the social, economic, and commercial transformations that the canal catalysed.
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The canal's legacy
The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, was a landmark civil engineering achievement in the early history of the United States. It was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. The canal's construction also served as a training ground for many of the engineers who built other American canals and railroads in the following decades.
The canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region and the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York state. It transformed New York City into the nation's principal seaport and opened up the interior of North America to settlement. New York City's population quadrupled between 1820 and 1850, and the city became the nation's busiest port, most populous city, and the foremost seat of commerce and finance. The canal also brought a flow of people and new ideas, with social reform movements like abolitionism and women's suffrage thriving in the canal corridor.
The canal's success encouraged the construction of other canals across the United States, with Ohio being a notable example. The Ohio & Erie Canal, constructed using design specifications from the Erie Canal, opened up Ohio and expanded America's market economy. Cities boomed wherever the canal went, and property values increased significantly.
The Erie Canal also changed property law in New York, expanding the government's right to take private property. Cases surrounding the canal expanded condemnation theory and broadened the meaning of "public use" in the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Today, the Erie Canal is primarily used by recreational vessels, although it remains served by several commercial barge-towing companies. The canal has become a tourist attraction, forming part of the Lakes to Locks Passage connecting eastern Canada to the Erie Canal.
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The engineering challenges
The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, eight years after construction began. It was a massive engineering challenge, built almost entirely by hand and completed before the invention of dynamite or the steam shovel. The canal was constructed by Irish labourers and German stonemasons, with the labour depending entirely on human and animal power or the force of water.
The first challenge was that the United States did not have a single college of engineering or any native-born engineers. The construction team included engineers with experience of the most advanced canal systems in England and France, but this was a project on an unprecedented scale. Canvass White, an amateur engineer, studied the canal system in Britain, while Nathan Roberts was a mathematics teacher and land speculator.
The canal was designed to connect the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, and the route ran through thickly forested wilderness. The early teams of labourers had only axes, pickaxes and shovels to fell trees and uproot stumps. The canal engineers also had to figure out how to overcome a 70-foot change in elevation, when the average lock on the canal could only lift between 10 and 15 feet. Roberts came up with the winning idea of a ""staircase" of five consecutive locks, each stacked on top of the other. To provide enough water to fill those locks, a massive channel needed to be dug through solid bedrock to reach Lake Erie. Twelve hundred mostly Irish workers blasted through seven miles of rock with dangerous black powder. They also built raging fires to heat the rock, which could then be cracked with a sudden douse of cold water.
The canal featured 83 separate locks, two massive aqueducts to cross the Mohawk River, and a final "flight" of interconnected locks to raise boats over the 70-foot Niagara Escarpment. The sides of the canal were lined with stone set in clay, and the bottom was also lined with clay. Leaks developed along the entire length of the canal, but these were sealed using cement that hardened underwater (hydraulic cement). Erosion on the clay bottom proved to be a problem and the speed was limited to 4 mph.
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Frequently asked questions
Construction of the Erie Canal began in 1817 and was completed in 1825.
The Erie Canal is a 363-mile (584 km) waterway.
The Erie Canal was a landmark civil engineering achievement in the early history of the United States. It transformed New York City into the nation's economic powerhouse, accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, and brought major growth to several cities in the US.
Today, the Erie Canal is primarily used by recreational vessels, although it is still served by several commercial barge-towing companies. The canal is open to small craft and some larger vessels from May to November each year.
