The Ohio & Erie Canal: Bringing Ohio to the Nation

Ohio Frontier Scenario You are a farmer near present-day Peninsula, Ohio. The year is 1810. You moved to Ohio from New England in search of fertile soil, which you found. You and your family grow corn and raise pigs. You have plenty to eat, but because Ohio is still a frontier, you don’t have anyone to whom you can sell your products. Your family is extremely poor. Discuss the following: Could you transport your goods using your small wagon and horse? How much could you carry and how long would it take? Could you send your goods along the Cuyahoga River? Why or why not?

Frontier Ohio The few roads that existed were muddy and had ruts. While American Indians navigated the Cuyahoga River and other Ohio rivers by canoe, farmers found them challenging due to unpredictable water levels. Having to go upstream against the current also slowed river travel. Farmers bartered with other nearby farmers for necessities. Most farmers lived at or below poverty levels.

Primary Source — From “Emily Nash: A Girl’s View of Growing Up on the Frontier, 1812-1820.” Published in Visions of the Western Reserve, Robert A. Wheeler, editor. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2000. Pages 127-137. Emily Nash was born in 1806. She started her diary in 1812 when she left Massachusetts for the Western Reserve. She settled in Geauga County. Although this isn’t in the Cuyahoga Valley, her experience is very reflective of what happened in the valley. Punctuation and spelling has been corrected. “There was no road, only marked trees. He drove over big logs. It seemed most impossible to get along with the sled.” “For instead of finding the land flowing with milk and honey we found it flowing with all sorts of wild animals such as bears, wolves, wild cats and snakes of every kind and size, but we are hoping for better times soon. “ “…Mother bought the cow of John Ford and [is] going to pay in spinning and weaving.”

The Ohio & Erie Canal Completed in 1832 Ohio Historical Society

Where Could the Goods Go? Using the Ohio & Erie Canal to take goods north to Lake Erie, where could they go from there? Using the Ohio & Erie Canal to take goods south to the Ohio River, where could they go from there?

Ohio After the Completion of the Canal The price of wheat near Akron went from $.20 or $.30 per bushel to $.75 by 1833. Nails, glass, cloth, salt, coffee and tea from eastern ports were available in the wilderness. Ohio’s population rose from 580,000 in the 1820s to over 2 million by 1850. Farmers and traders in central Ohio could reach markets in New York City on the east coast and New Orleans on the Gulf Coast.

Primary Source - Advertisement for trip on the canal.