SOURCE: [UNC School of Education, 1540]
Expectations VS. Reality
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"The idea of this canal came about long before there was a United States of America."
-Natalie Stetson, Executive Director at the Erie Canal Museum
European explorers flocked to American shores after 1500 to find a water route through the continent, the fabled Northwest Passage, without success.
By the era of the British colonies, dreams of a water route to the Pacific dwindled. Still, colonists looked to the west for new opportunities.
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Colonists hoped to expand into lands conquered in the French and Indian War. Unfortunately, the British issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting westward migration and reserving the conquest for Native Americans. The American Revolution followed.
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"And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the Security of our Colonies, that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to them." |
The Great Lakes region was granted to the United States in 1783. The Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 organized the territory. The Erie Canal facilitated movement past the Appalachians, ensuring the growth of these resourceful territories.
"Whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government." |