Erie Canal - Background

Background

From the first days of the expansion of the British colonies from the coast of North America into the heartland of the continent, a recurring problem was that of transportation between the coastal ports and the interior. Close to the seacoast, rivers often provided adequate waterways, but the presence of the Appalachian Mountains, 400 miles inland, presented a great challenge. Passengers and freight had to travel overland, a journey made more difficult by the rough condition of the roads. That the principal exportable product of the Ohio Valley was grain did not help matters, as grain was a high-volume, low-priced commodity, frequently not worth the cost of transporting it to far-away population centers (this was a factor leading to farmers in the west turning their grains into Whiskey for easier transport and higher sales, and later the Whiskey Rebellion). In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it became clear to coastal residents that the city or state that succeeded in developing a cheap, reliable route to the West would enjoy economic success, and that the port at the seaward end of such a route would see business increase greatly. In time, projects were devised in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.