SOURCE: [The Erie Canal Organization, 1823]
Political Controversy
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The New York State Assembly backed the proposition for the canal and passed resolutions deciding where to build it.
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When brought to Thomas Jefferson, he debunked the idea as crazy, and Congress gave no financial support to the project.
"Here is a canal for a few miles, projected by George Washington, which if completed, would render this a fine commercial city, which has languished for many years because the small sum of 200,000 dollars necessary to complete it, cannot be obtained from the general government, the state government, or from individuals--and you talk of making a canal 350 miles through the wilderness--it is a little short of madness to think of it at this day." |
"The idea of building this long waterway was something that the federal government was afraid of. They didn’t see it as a task in the 1800s that they could take on."
-Natalie Stetson, Executive Director at the Erie Canal Museum
"[The War of 1812] discouraged U.S. products from being shipped down the St. Lawrence River through Canada, which was still part of the British Empire, and diminished the risk of invasion from the north." During the War of 1812, attentions were diverted to the effort and discussions of a canal diminished. Following the war, the need for an American inland route was realized.
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James Madison's veto of John C. Calhoun's "Bonus Bill," which would provide federal funding to public works projects, prevented the financing of the canal.
"The early promoters were not only considered dreamers and visionary enthusiasts, but endured obloquy, abuse and insult." Politics remained an issue, and a bill to start construction on the project, get a $2,000,000 loan, and create a tax for funding was rejected by DeWitt Clinton's rival, Martin Van Buren.
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“Not until the work of construction had been in progress for three years and the middle section had been opened, did the opposition cease and the people become united in an endeavor to complete the enterprise which they expected to bring prosperity to themselves and to give to their State the controlling power in the commerce of the country.” |
The canal's triumph over politics set a precedent for similar projects.