Erie Cannal and Industrialization

Do you know what a canal is?Why is transporting goods

important?

Early Transportation in New York and U.S.

1. Turnpikes

- early roads, built by private companies

- people had to pay a toll to use them

- muddy and poorly built

2. Erie Canal (1798-1819)

- built so western New York could ship goods east to the Port of New York City (increase trade)

- NY Governor DeWitt Clinton wanted to build the canal

- many mocked Clinton because they thought it was impossible to build (called it “Clinton’s Ditch”)

a. Labor Problems

- not enough workers- Irish immigrants were hired right off

the boat from Ireland to dig the canal- many Irish are mistreated and suffer

prejudice- some Irish die of malaria when they

have to dig through swampland

b. New Technology Used

- Stump Puller = new invention to pull out tree stumps

- Aqueducts = water bridge used to carry the canal over rivers (Romans)

- Locks = used to level the canal over uneven ground

- Industrial Explosives = used to blast through rocks at Lockport

c. Results of the Erie Canal- cost of shipping goods cut from $100 a ton to $6

a ton- time to ship goods across N.Y. cut from 15 days to

5 days- population of the west increases – immigrants

from NYC use the canal to go through mountains to Buffalo and across Lake Erie to Northwest Territories

- Increased National unity between eastern & western U.S.

- New York State grows – towns like Buffalo, Rochester, & Syracuse become cities

- NYC becomes largest city in U.S.

3. Robert Fulton Invents the Steamboat (1807)

- boats can now move faster up the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers against the current

result =faster & cheaper shipping ( U.S.

economy)