Why was the Erie canal call the Clinton's Big Ditch?

Answer 1

The Erie Canal was called "Clinton's Folly or "Clinton's Ditch" when it began construction.

The project was considered impossible by some, at the time (proposed around 1800). When Thomas Jefferson was petitioned for federal funds, he refused, saying; "It is a splendid project, and may be executed a century hence."

But in 1816, New York governor DeWitt Clinton allocated $7 million and served on the Erie Canal Commission. His opponents managed to have him removed from the commission, but in the backlash to this, he was nominated by the "People's Party" and elected to a second term as governor in 1825.

The Erie Canal

The canal extended from the Hudson River at Albany, NY to Lake Erie at Buffalo, NY. Connecting New York City to the Great Lakes, and the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, the canal took eight years to build (1817-1825). It got Dewitt Clinton voted out of office by his party. Six years later, as the work neared completion, it got him voted back in again. And rightfully so. Before the Erie Barge Canal was built, it cost about $67 US dollars to ship a standard bale of goods from the Atlantic seaboard to the continental interior. After the Erie Barge Canal was built, it cost just $12 US dollars. This helped make New York City the economic hub of the free world, and to establish New York as the "Empire State."

Answer 2

Perhaps the most fortunate accident in the life of DeWitt Clinton was the 'title' given to him by his political opponents: "Clinton's Ditch". That is what they called the Erie Canal.
The success of the canal, also known as "Clinton's Folly," would deliver him to power.