The completion of the Erie Canal spurred the first great westward movement of American settlers, gave access to the rich land and resources west of the Appalachians and made New York the preeminent commercial city in the United States. The effect of the Canal was both immediate and dramatic, and settlers poured west.

Erie Canal, historic waterway of the United States, connecting the Great Lakes with New York City via the Hudson River at Albany.

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There Have Been 3 Erie Canals The canal you see in use today is not the original Erie Canal. The canal was redug and rerouted several times in the 1800s. Today’s allignement is offically known as the New York State Barge Canal. The modern routing and construction of the canal was completed in 1918.

Their response: the canal in our area is labeled as being clean, having only what the DEC calls “minor impacts.” That’s mainly due to nutrients or runoff from farms, nothing that could cause any health issues. A department spokesperson says boating, paddleboarding, and fishing is okay but swimming is not encouraged.

The Erie Canal transformed New York City into America’s commercial capital. The city’s population quadrupled between 1820 and 1850, and the financing of the canal’s construction also allowed New York to surpass Philadelphia as the country’s preeminent banking center.

The enlarged canal was replaced entirely by a twelve-foot-deep canal, built from 1905 to 1918 and designed for motorized barges; in the early twenty-first century, traffic was primarily recreational boaters.

The Erie Canal ensured the status of New York City as America’s premiere seaport, commercial center, and gateway to the interior – eclipsing New Orleans, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. It helped New York become the “Empire State” – the leader in population, industry, and economic strength.

Even more than other maritime trades, because of its hazardous nature and ever present demand for workers, whaling provided more opportunities and better-paying employment for African-Americans.

The Erie Canal provided a direct water route from New York City to the Midwest, triggering large-scale commercial and agricultural development—as well as immigration—to the sparsely populated frontiers of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and points farther west.

Steamboat River Transport. Steamboats proved a popular method of commercial and passenger transportation along the Mississippi River and other inland U.S. rivers in the 19th century. Their relative speed and ability to travel against the current reduced the time and expense of shipping.

Smallpox and other contagious diseases spread over the canal, too.

Packet boats were often pulled through the canals by a team of horses or mules who walked slowly along the bank. Passengers could cut their travel time in half by canal boat.

To move upriver, men or draught animals on towpaths were used to haul the boats on long ropes. In shallow waters boats could also be propelled upstream by long poles. These sections of river could be negotiated by anchoring a rope ahead of the boat and then using the crew to haul it upstream.