The Erie Canal Ms. Pedrotti

What is a canal? A canal is a man-made waterway. The Erie Canal is one of several in New York, but it was the first one built!! The Erie was built using a series of locks and aqueducts. An aqueduct is a special kind of bridge used to carry a canal over a stream or rivers. Locks were enclosed places on the canal with doors on both ends. They were used to raise or lower boats by pumping water in or out of the locks while the doors were closed. The Erie has 83 locks and 18 aqueducts.

Transportation Barges, packet boats and even rafts were used to transport goods and people along the canal’s route. Horses and mules were used to pull the barges and boats. The captains and their families would live on the boats. Young boys would lead the horses or mules along the walkways .

Where? The Erie Canal stretches from Albany to Buffalo. Construction of the canal began in the summer of 1817. The plan was to build a “great ditch” that would connect the Hudson River to Lake Erie, a length of about 360 miles. The canal was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide.

Whose idea? The “father” of the canal was DeWitt Clinton, the governor of New York. He persuaded our state government to pay the $7 million for construction costs. This amounted to about $5.00 for each man, women and child.

A ditch? The canal was known as a ditch; specifically Clinton’s Ditch. It was first called a ditch because farmers and other rural workers would often need to leave the canal work site to take care of their farms and homes. These workers would leave the partially dug areas which looked like a ditch! It was referred to as Clinton’s Ditch as the canal was his idea.

Who dug the ditch? Most of the Erie canal was dug by Irish immigrants. Other workers included: African-Americans, Italian immigrants and other Eastern European immigrants. These men and boys often worked a 14 hour day, slept on hard wooden cots in a camp and received 80 cents a day in pay. To them this was good pay.

How was the ditch dug The area in which the canal was located was hilly, mountainous and forested. Below the surface, the earth was full of tree roots and walls of thick stone. The workers used many tools: shovels, picks, Workers needed to invent tools as well. They invented the wheelbarrow, buckets, scrapers, and plows. stump pullers, and tree cutters.

It’s Opened! The Grand Western Canal, the official name of Governor Clinton’s project was finally completed in 1825. The canals eastern boundary was the Hudson River, while its western boundary was Lake Erie. Tolls on the canal were used to pay back the State government for the cost of construction. This debt was repaid in only 9 years! The canal would be used for transporting people and goods.

Then what happened Results of the canal’s opening were many. This waterway allowed farmers to transport their goods much quicker and cheaper. For example,before its opening the cost to ship a ton of flour to New York City was $100, after, the cost dropped to only $10 a ton! Time to transport went down from about a month to only 7-10 days.

Work Cited http://www.epodunk.com/routes/erie-canal/# New York State Canal System Activity Book; N.Y.S. Canal Corporation, July 1998 The Story of the New York State Canals; History an Commercial Information; Finch, Roy