IMPACT

The economic and financial impact of the Erie Canal system was extraordinary. The availability of a wider variety of goods fostered more trade, which fostered more growth and more infrastructure development.

"The Erie Canal helped the United States fulfill its potential, carrying goods, people, and ideas between the heart of America and the rest of the world," (Kendall, 2008) and earned New York City its name, The Empire State.

The New York State Canal System is the most commercially enduring and historically significant canal in the United States. Besides spurring growth in the Mohawk and Hudson valleys, these canals helped open up western America for settlement and for many years transported much of the Midwest's agricultural and industrial products to domestic and international markets. (www.nps.gov)

The impact of the canal was profound. The Erie Canal brought farm settlers westward, connected the Great Lakes to New York Harbor and led to the growth of cities along the canal such as Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. "Before the canal opened, farmers paid a hundred dollars per ton to transport their sacks of flour from western New York State to Albany by road.

After the canal opened, travel between Buffalo and Albany by water would barely take a week (Kendall, 2008). The ability to transport goods cheaper and faster from the Midwest had a tremendous impact on the expansion of smaller towns along the canal into major cities.

The investment in infrastructure transformed our nation. For the first time, manufactured goods, such as clothing and furniture, could be shipped in bulk (large, heavy quantities) to the frontier. Now, people living in the Northwest Territory could manufacture and ship timber, minerals and furs to people on the Eastern seaboard.

The Erie Canal also gave an economic boost to the entire United States by allowing the transport of goods at a fraction of the previous cost, in less than half the time. By 1853, the Erie Canal carried 62 percent of all U.S. trade." (www.history.com). This lucrative trade made New York City the busiest port in America.

Farmers in western New York and the Midwest benefitted from the cheap and quick transport of their crops, such as wheat and corn, to East Coast markets. Similarly, upper New York State became wealthy, supplying NYC with food and manufactured goods, while cities along the canal became rich centers of culture, education and manufacturing.

Canal boats were hauling the agricultural goods of the new western frontier, along the canal, to manufacturing mills in the East. The same boats made the return trip, filled with goods for eager customers in the West. This back-and-forth trade made it possible for people to live beyond the Appalachian Mountains.

The Erie Canal provided jobs, increased land values along its route and increased the production of goods and further development. The Erie Canal was not only a channel for transportation and commerce, but social change as well. "Barges became vehicles for movements such as the abolition of slavery, women's rights and religious freedom" (Erie Canal National, 2008).

The Erie Canal allowed to people communicate with each other more easily, spreading innovation and ideas more quickly, throughout the new nation.

The Erie Canal provided major benefits not only to the cities it ran through but to New York State, and to the entire nation. America no longer had to rely on farming for its survival. As people began to move westward, industrial centers -- mills, coal manufacturing plants, oil refineries, steel and iron foundries, and more -- sprouted up along the banks of the Erie Canal, sparking further development and more wealth for New York and beyond.

The Erie Canal transformed New York City into the young nation's economic powerhouse by providing a direct water route from New York to the Midwest, triggering large-scale commercial and agricultural development, to and from the sparsely populated frontiers of the west.

When it opened in 1825, the Erie Canal almost immediately revolutionized trade, commerce, and transportation. The uncomfortable two-week wagon or stagecoach trip from Albany to Buffalo became possible in merely five days -- less than half the time! Freight rates fell to just 10 percent of their previous cost, markedly increasing the profit margin, and encouraging even more shipping. www.nps.gov

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. Together, these effects gave New York a remarkable degree of political influence on the national scene and helped establish the United States’ place in North American affairs. (www.eriecanalway.org)

The Erie Canal waterway played a key role in turning New York City into our country's most important center for commerce, industry, and finance. As more commerce with western New York state became a reality, the importance of New York City as an Atlantic port multiplied. Western New York farmers, loggers, miners, and manufacturers found opportunities to acquire wealth were greater than ever before, and shipping and trade -- and society in general -- in New York City flourished.