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The Erie Canal helped spread America's people, and wealth, and a more modern way of life. The Canal helped connect the cities of the East coast (like New York City) with "frontier" towns like Buffalo, which was over 400 miles west of NYC. The Erie Canal joined the St. Lawrence river in connecting the shipping lanes of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean (not directly, but mostly, with some required transfers of the goods to wagons). The Erie Canal was built before long-distance railroad lines were built across the same territory. The railroads came some 30 or 40 years later.

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Cory Rohan

Lvl 13
3y ago

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