Assignment on Erie Canal’s Contribution to America's Economic Growth

The Erie Canal is a 600-kilometer waterway that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via New York's Hudson River. The canal, which marked New York State from Albany to Buffalo via Lake Buffalo, was considered a marvel of engineering when it opened in 1825. The Erie Canal provides a direct waterway from New York to the Midwest, leading to large-scale commercial and thriving agricultural development - as well as to sparsely populated areas of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and the West. The canal transformed New York City into a young nation's economic power, and in 2000 the US Congress named the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor (New York State, 2019)

Early American researchers searched long waterways from the population centers of the East Coast to the resource-rich areas of the Midwest and Great Lakes. The Northwest Territories, which later became the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, had fertile land for timber, minerals, paving, and agriculture, but the sub-fields remained as such. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it took several weeks for these resources to reach Earth. Transportation of large quantities is limited by the number of oxen that can be pulled by wagons. The lack of an efficient transport network has led to a limited population and trade in coastal areas. The Erie Canal had an economic, political and social impact on the United States. It is one of the most important 19th-century buildings in the US (New York State, 2019)

Discussion of Erie Canal’s Contribution to America's Economic Growth

The Erie Canal is built from the Hudson River to Lake Erie Lake. It has improved the economy of some New York cities, Buffalo Lockport and Rochester. This leads to New York being industrial. This reduced the shipping cost. In the past, New York was mostly small villages and farms. After the Erie Canal, new cities were built, and New York City became a rapidly developing city. This made New York Harbor the country's busiest. The population increased from about 1,500 to 36,400. But by 1850, New York's population was about three million. This reduced shipping costs from 100 tons to 8 tons per ton. In 1836, it was able to carry 369,000 barrels of grain, making it a major grain processor. Between 1820 and 1840, production in New York increased by 262%. It brought luxury items to New York and many tourists. Some saw it as revolutionary.

      The routes linking the Erie Canal to the Atlantic Ocean and the waters of the Great Lakes have very much changed American history. This widened the gap between the North and the South due to slavery. Prior to the opening of the Erie Canal, New Orleans was the only port city to have American waterways, and some residents of the Midwest arrived mainly from the south. "Southeastern Ohio and Southern Indiana were sympathetic to slavery, crossing the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The Ari Canal confirmed this trend and new immigrants from New England, New York, and Europe created new Midwestern states. The Rhys and Europeans opposed slavery, making conflict. The people of the South have become crueler and the northerners are more stubborn. Kelly transformed the Midwest American breadbasket through the new colonies, "Agriculture is a major industry for the South. I have reduced my dependence on the North (KLEIN, 2016)

The Erie Canal has also transformed New York into the commercial capital of the United States. The Erie Canal believes that the project to produce pork barrels will only benefit good cities that many New York political leaders have tried to shut down. Well, they failed. "The Erie Channel has really made New York. Ports like New Orleans, Philadelphia and Baltimore crossed New York. The author Kelly said that the success of a port depends on how large a region it can be. This enabled New York to enter this vast area of the Midwest, and it became a major factor in making New York the leading country." Port "As the gateway to the Midwest, New York was the commercial capital of the United States and the main port of entry for European immigrants. The city's population was fourfold and funding for the construction of the canal allowed New York to travel to Philadelphia (KLEIN, 2016)

It is quite interesting to discuss that a canal has actually made a contribution to the economic growth of a country. But this is the beauty of the Erie Canal that it has helped the American people in so many ways. It is a fact that farmers need an easy and cheap route to bring their goods to the target market because it’s the only way that they can get great value and profit for their goods. So, a viable positive effect was made by the Erie Canal for local farmers, because trade was started in the area of the Midwest. The farmers were able to get their goods to their target markets to another side of the water with the help of the route provided by the Erie Canal. So, when such positive effects of the Erie Canal were observed by the U.S government, and they analyzed that it can come up with so many benefits for the local people, as well as, it can help to boost trade, so more canals were built by the U.S so that both East and West areas are connected as much as possible. The other important thing is that connection is a lot more convenient and cheaper than any other way. It is a known fact that New York is center of so many things when we talk about the United States, so it’s economic or any other kind of boost, is also a great thing for the whole United States (VOA, 2012)

It is important to look at the costs of building the Erie Canal so that it can be analyzed, how much its cost was, and what has been achieved by spending so much money. The total cost of building the Erie Canal was $7,143,000. Even if this amount is looked at in the current perspective, it is quite a handsome amount. It was not an easy thing for New York State to manage the entire amount, but they still managed it without the support of the Federal Government. How this investment made by the New York State was a great decision, it was proved in the first 10 years after the canal was built, because the state was able to recover all its cost of building the canal with the help of canal toll, as well as, increased goods’ production. So, this is how New York State became a leading region in trade, and its commercial activities were extremely boosted. The data revealed that in 1835, the New York State was able to collect tolls up to $1.5 m. At the end of 1882, this overall revenue with the help of the canal had reached an amount of $121,461,871. The variety of goods was transported through the canals but the majority of goods were farm goods, like salt, flour, fruits, wheat, as well as, vegetables. It was a common thing that due to long routes, the farm goods had been spoiled before reaching their markets, which was such a big loss to farmers. The canal also helped people to travel more quickly from New York City to the Western New York (Weebly.com, 2019)

It is also vital to understand that the Erie Canal project was not a small one for New York State to manage, and finish it as per the plan, because a lot of money, efforts and resources were needed. Then why State opted to take this difficult task in their hand? They did it so because they knew that its economic impact will be huge in so many ways, and it was proved afterward when the canal was built in 1825 by jumping all the hurdles, which came in its way. It is essential to know that around 8 years was spent to build this canal, which shows its magnitude because 8 years is a lengthy period to complete a project. At that time, it was such a great project, not only for New York State but for the whole of America, because it came up with new beginnings. There were so many economic and other benefits that were attained with the help of the Erie Canal. For instance, the travel time between Buffalo to Albany was around 6 weeks. After building the Erie Canal, this travel time was squeezed to just 2 days. If freight was moved between these cities with the weight of a ton, the overall cost was $100, and when Erie Canal was built, it reduced this cost to just $5. This is how it starting giving a new shape of America, by boosting its economy and trade (Murphy, 2013)

Conclusion of Erie Canal’s Contribution to America's Economic Growth

            It can be concluded in the end that there may not be many examples to say that a canal helped a country to shape and boost its economic growth. But this is the case with Erie Canal that it helps the American economy to grow because it gave so much boost to the economy and trade of New York State, which ultimately had positive effects on the whole American society. Once it was built in 1825, it changed so many things for local and regional business, trade and economy. The cost of building the canal was recovered in the first ten years, which shows its success, and the role it played in overall economic growth.

References of Erie Canal’s Contribution to America's Economic Growth

KLEIN, C. (2016). 8 Ways the Erie Canal Changed America. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://www.history.com/news/8-ways-the-erie-canal-changed-america

Murphy, J. (2013). Erie Canal gave birth to upstate N.Y.'s economy. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/08/erie-canal-ny-economy/2499109/

New York State. (2019). Canal History. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from http://www.canals.ny.gov/history/history.html

VOA. (2012). How the Erie Canal Helped America Grow. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/erie-canal-history-growth/1120964.html

Weebly.com. (2019). Economic Impact. Retrieved December 10, 2019, from https://eriecanalimpacts.weebly.com/economic-impact.html