The Erie

Canal

New York’s Golden Gateway

The Erie Canal: Clinton’s Ditch

Towards the beginning of the 19th century, New York businessmen were getting anxious. New York was losing out to other ports as a trade center, because there was no easy way -- besides a long, hard, overland trip -- to ship goods between the city and the Midwest, where a growing population wanted to trade.

In 1810, Mayor De Witt Clinton proposed a dramatic solution. He suggested digging a canal between the Hudson River and Lake Erie, one of the Great

Lakes. Clinton asked President Madison for financial aid but was rejected. Determined, he persuaded New York State to fund the project, even though some politicians nicknamed it "Clinton's ditch." Construction began in 1817 and was finished in 1825. The canal was an amazing 363 miles long, but only 40 feet wide and four feet deep. That may sound shallow, but it was deep enough for its flat-bottomed boats. The canal also had 83 stone locks to help raise and lower boats across steep inclines. In 1825, when the canal was completed, Clinton traveled on the first boat from Buffalo, at the Lake Erie end, to Albany, then on down to Manhattan. When he got there, the city celebrated. Clinton was part of something known as the “Wedding of the Waters,” where he took water from Lake Erie and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean to show how the two bodies of water were now connected.

After the 1820's, New York businessmen and politicians could breathe a big sigh of relief. As De Witt Clinton had predicted, the Erie Canal had a major impact on New York's commercial world. Before the canal, shipping goods between Lake Erie and New York City cost $100 a ton and took more than three weeks. Afterward, the cost dropped to less than $10 dollars a ton and the trip took just seven days. The canal was so popular that, by the late 1820s, up to $15 million worth of goods -- such as flour, whiskey, and wheat -- were transported each year. In addition, about

1,000 people a day traveled the canal.

To help repay the construction costs -- a debt of $7.6 million -- the state charged tolls to use the canal. In the first year alone, almost a million dollars in tolls were collected.

DeWitt Clinton’s Thoughts on the Canal

Dewitt had the idea for the Erie Canal early on. He knew that if he wanted to help New York grow, he would need to help build this canal across the state, which would connect the eastern part of the state to the western portion.

Below is a quote about how Clinton thought the Canal would help Manhattan.

“The city will, in the course of time, become the granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, the seat of manufactures, the

focus of great moneyed operations, and before the revolution of a century, the

whole island of Manhattan, covered with inhabitants and replenished with a dense population, will

constitute one vast city.”

The Erie Canal Song

(Low Bridge, Everybody Down)

Extended Version

I've got an old mule and her name is Sal Chorus Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal She's a good old worker and a good old pal, Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal? Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal We've hauled some barges in our day Filled with lumber, coal, and hay Oh, I'd like to see a mule as good as Sal And every inch of the way we know From Albany Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal to Buffalo A friend of mine once got her sore Now he's got a busted jaw, Chorus: 'Cause she let fly with her iron toe, And kicked Low bridge, everybody down Low bridge for him in to Buffalo. we're coming to a town And you'll always know your neighbor Chorus And you'll always know your pal

If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal Don't have to call when I want my Sal Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal She trots from her

stall like a good old gal. Fifteen miles on the Erie We'd better look 'round for a job old gal. Fifteen Canal miles on the Erie Canal I eat my meals with Sal each day 'Cause you bet your life I'd never part with Sal I eat beef and she eats hay And she ain't so slow if you want to Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal know Git up there mule, here comes a lock

We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock She put the "Buff" in Buffalo One more trip and back we'll go Right back home to Buffalo Chorus

Erie Canal Close Reading Questions Use the article, the information, and the song to answer the comprehension questions about the Erie Canal.

1. Why did New York feel like they were falling behind other American states and cities? Use text evidence to support your answer. ______

2. DeWitt Clinton suggested building a canal. What was the initial reaction to his idea?

______

3. The Erie Canal took ______years to build.

4. What did the Erie Canal do for businesses in New York State?

______