SOURCE: [The Erie Canal Organization, 1919]
Immediate Impact
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"As the canal neared completion, many of these Irishmen settled in Buffalo with their families. But the opportunities that the canal offered meant much more to the other ethnic groups arriving from the east. Buffalo became a beacon, calling to the millions of immigrants who desired to make their fortunes in America."
-Aaron T. Heverin, Buffalo Historian
New towns were established along the Canal, bringing business and boosting regional economies. The canal diversified the New York economy due to new technology and businesses.
Almost immediately, transportation rates from Buffalo to New York dropped from $100 per ton to $10, increasing trade.
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"Within 15 years of the Canal's opening, New York was the busiest port in America, moving tonnages greater than Boston, Baltimore and New Orleans combined."
-Official Website of New York State
PBS' American Experience: Building the Erie Canal- 54 seconds (1999)
"Buffalo from its local situation is apparently the key which opens to the people of the State of New York a most stupendous path of navigation and of commerce extending the distance of more than 2000 miles." |
The canal immediately sparked rapid national development, unprecedentedly connecting the country.