Artificial River
The Artificial River
The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress
Carol Sheriff
6/12/2006
The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress
On October 26, 1825, the largest American-made canal was finished. Stretching 363 miles, 40 feet wide and only four feet deep, the Erie Canal allowed citizens to populate places that some never dreamed of. By connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast, settlers now had a way to transport goods, services, and themselves in a timely manner that at the time seemed impossible.
Carol Sheriff's book The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress,' discusses the history and creation of the Erie Canal, but in a different way. She explores the impact that the development of the Erie Canal had on middle class Americans. Also explained is the significant evolution (both environmental and economical) that took place around the canal before, during, and after it became America's foremost mode of transportation between the east coast and the western core.
The first chapter of the book titled "Visions of Progress" brings us to early New York, where prominent leaders discuss their visions of the canal and its obvious potential. Governor DeWitt Clinton leads the group and emphasizes on a more reliable and efficient transportation source, while at the same time developing culture along the way. The ground is broken on July 4th 1817 by Judge John Richardson who proclaimed "By this great highway, unborn millions will easily transport their surplus productions to the shores of the Atlantic, procure their supplies, and hold a useful and profitable intercourse with all the marine nations of the world" (pg. 09). Construction on the canal had now begun.
"The Triumph of Art over Nature" is the title of the second chapter. The chapter is a little more political than the rest of the...
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