Erie Canal

They are useful because they are the source of which many boats travel on. It is also very traditional in Dutch culture and many other cultures too.

Construction of the Erie Canal began July 4, 1817 and was completed October 26, 1825

They did not have bulldozers so animals were used to pulled a "slip scraper". German stonemasons were hired to cut stone to build the locks. Irish were hired as labor to pull stumps and shovel dirt into wheel barrows.

No the Erie Canal did not join the Ohio River. But New York was not the only state that built canals. The state of Ohio also built canals. The Miami and Erie Canal went to the Ohio River. The Erie and Ohio Canal also reached the Ohio River. Neither of these canals were as successful as the Erie Canal.

New York became very prosperous from the Erie Canal.

Yes it is true that the Cumberland Road and the Erie Canal improved early American travel.

Construction of the Erie Canal started on July 4, 1817.

English water channel

English & Vivar Channel, both located in Europe.

Yes the Erie Canal is still in business today. Much of it is now recreation but there is still commercial traffic such as barges of corn from Canada to be turned into ethanol.

https://www.npr.org/2013/06/25/195426326/commercial-shipping-revived-along-erie-canal

Dewitt Clinton approved the idea from a man in debtor's prison who wrote letters of the idea at the time to the state, However other lawmakers thought it was a stupid idea and later it was referred to as Clinton's ditch because of DeWitt Clinton.

Yes there were other canals built because of the success of the Erie Canal. Canada built one and Ohio built several.

The construction was a great challenge because there were no machines to do the digging. Everything had to be done by hand or with animals. Irishmen were hired to do the digging because they worked very cheaply. Also America did not have any trained engineers so men had to learn as they went along.

The Erie Canal allowed transportation between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Erie.

Buffalo, NY is the westernmost city on the Erie Canal.

The goods that were coming in from other countries around the world could get to the west. The canal also let more people move to the west because it made traveling easier.

The Erie Canal was paid off by the tolls payed by the boats that were passing through the canal.

One result of the Erie Canal is that it was faster to get from one place to another from up the Hudson into the Erie Canal and after you can get any where from there. An even bigger benefit was the reduction in cost of transportation.

The two bodies of water that were linked were Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

A lot of farmers lived there and they needed water for there crops!

It took eight years to dig the Erie Canal.

Parts of it are preserved and parts of it have been filled in to build roads and streets. Parts of it have been incorporated into parks and along with other parts they have been used to promote tourism in different parts of New York State. There are more details on it at the link below:

The Erie Canal, had 1,000 deaths from its 50,000 workers. Some died from disease from swampy terrain, or careless use of gunpowder while blasting. Others died of drowning or canal collapses which buried workers under tons of rubble.

because it was easier for people to trade and import/ export goods to other contries.

The Erie Canal changed the United States because it brought food from the Midwest to New York City. It also brought immigrants from Europe that came to New York and wanted to farm in the Midwest.