This article is from the WeChat public account: Earth Knowledge Bureau (diqiuzhishiju) , author: Sue that day, Photo by Ferdinand Stöhr on Unsplash

From any perspective, New York in the northeast of the United States is a world-class city. It is the center of the world economy. The United Nations headquarters is also located in the city.

In the past century, this city has symbolized the pinnacle of world wealth. It has survived many financial crises and still stands.

The five Great Lakes and surrounding city clusters, also located in the northeastern United States, occupy nearly one-sixth of the population of the United States, and are the most important industrial bases in the United States. Industrial cities such as Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago transport heavy machinery, steel, cars, and other products to New York through a narrow waterway, and then from New York to the Atlantic Ocean to the world.

Atlantic trade was the focus of the early development of the United States and New York, and there were many ports on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, so the economic hinterland became the key to the success of coastal cities, and they can sit on five lakes Hinterland ports, you can win

This channel is the second largest artificial canal in the world-the Erie Canal. Its construction transformed New York from a small port city into a world-class metropolis, and also accelerated the expansion of the United States of America, which was recently independent, to the west.

The eastern starting point of this canal is: Atlantic coast-New York-Hudson River (basemap from shutterstock @ Intrepix)

Go west, turn it all up

At the beginning of American independence, there were only thirteen states east of the Appalachian Mountains. In 1783, the United States and Britain signed the Paris Peace Treaty, which determined that the land inhabited by Native Americans between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the United States.

Geographically, the East Coast is only a small part of the United States today. If the United States did not cross the Appalachian Mountains in that year, it might lose its unity forever Opportunities in the US Midwest, a broken America is impossible Great (Image: shutterstock @ Anton Shahrai)

This year, Washington famously said, “They (Indians and wolves) are predators, It’s just different in shape. ”

So at the end of the eighteenth century, the United States began a vigorous westward movement. On the one hand, the westward movement was accompanied by genocide against Native Americans in North America; on the other hand, it also expanded the vast living space for white Americans, which is of great significance to the formation of the American map today.

A map of the United States printed in England in 1795 is only a consortium of unstable areas on the east coast (picture from shutter @@. Pilon)

A map of North America printed in 1850, only half a century, Mexico defeated, the United States has become a behemoth, Alaska will also be included in the bag more than ten years later (picture From: shutter @@. Pilon)

However, in the early days, westbound traffic was a big problem for white Americans.

The towering Appalachian Mountains have blocked communications between the east and west of the United States. At that time, if you wanted to enter from the eastern part of the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, there were only a few animal-powered channels that shuttled between the mountains and mountains. ) is accessible.

These mountain canyons have now been developed, but it was very difficult to pass back that year, and the river that runs through the Appalachian Mountains is too Scarce (Appalachian Mountains, Middle Tennessee and Virginia) (Image from: google map)

This channel relies on horses traveling on rugged mountain trails, and then develops into a large-scale caravan fleet. However, compared with the larger immigration needs, the animal power is really limited, but for a long time, This is again the main way for land communications between the East and West.

New York is a city, and New York State is a larger (and colder) region that stretches inland. The inland and coastal areas can be very different (winter) Northeastern United States, picture from: NASA)

There are huge hidden dangers not only economically, but also in the political separation between the east and the west. A large number of white residents in the western region, which had just been incorporated into US territory at that time, were of French descent and did not have a strong sense of the United States.

For comparison, Quebec’s unique status in Canada, if the United States from Ohio to Illinois also become French-speaking? (Image from: shutter @ Jacques Durocher)

While Washington returned from a trip to the West in 1784, he said, “What bond do we have with the people in this area (West) ? If the Spanish to the west and the British to the north did not set them up like they do now, but would attract them through trade interests and seek some kind of alliance, the relationship between the west and us would be even more alienated.

The players in North America are not only the Americans, but also vastThe middle part is not destined to belong to New England. In this race on ethnicity and population, Americans need the fastest speed (picture from shutter @ Anton Shahrai)

For the purpose of consolidating the new U.S. territory as soon as possible and breaking the British blockade, the US authorities are encouraging the residents of the east to migrate westward, while planning to build a canal that connects the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.

At that time, it was the longest canal in North America, the greatest super engineering of the United States, and a symbol of American spirit.

Open mountains and rivers, merge into rivers

The construction of a canal is the consensus of all walks of life in the United States, but where and how to build it is a matter worthy of discussion.

The backward productivity of the New World at that time did not allow them to carry out the huge project of splitting the Appalachian Mountains. There were only two lesser paths to choose from:

The first route is to dig a trench between Lake Ontario and the Hudson River to bypass the Appalachian Mountains. This route is theoretically the shortest and the least difficult to construct.

Direction from Hudson River to Lake Ontario (only for directions)

But the problem is that this line is too close to the north, where it is the British sphere of influence. At the beginning of the founding of the United States, the United States was constrained by the British everywhere. Once war broke out again, the British army could easily occupy this lifeline of East-West communication in the United States.

The second route became the only solution. That is, using the Mohawk River, a tributary of the Hudson River, to build a penetrating Mohawk Valley westward from Buffalo on the east shore of Lake Erie. (Buffalo) < / span>Go to the upper Hudson (upper Hudson) , connecting the canals of the Hudson River and Lake Erie.

The route from the Hudson River to Lake Erie (that is, the Erie Canal)

In 1817, when Clinton was elected governor of New York State, he persuaded the state legislature to approve a loan of $ 7 million to build a canal. The project was expected to be more complicated and difficult than the previous one, so the American society at that time did not like this project and called it “Clinton’s Ditch” (Clinton’s ditch) .

But the governor is under pressure to start the canal.

The goal is to lead to this distant Great Lake (Lake Erie) (picture from shutterstock @ SF photo)

At that time, there were no engineering colleges in the United States. Benjamin Wright, the chief engineer of the canal, led his self-learning engineering team to overcome difficulties and gradually explored.

The highest point of the Mohawk Valley is about 150 meters above the Hudson River.There are 83 ship locks designed on the canal, and the water level in the lock room is adjusted by means of irrigation or drainage in the lock room, so that the ship can vertically rise and fall between the upper and lower water levels.

Set up ship locks along the river to solve this problem of height difference (slide right) (picture from: wikipedia)

The most difficult challenge lies in the western section of the canal. If you want to connect to Lake Erie, you must clear the seemingly impassable nature of Niagara Cliffs.

The canal engineer designed ten ship locks in this section, two of them in a row, with a total of five horizontal planes, carrying water to a height like a ladder.

The former five-story sluice has been demolished (now used for flood relief) (picture from: wikipedia @ Leonard G.)

Of course Americans are not fighting alone. During the nation-state revolution and crisis broke out across Europe, a large number of artisans from Germany and Ireland left their homes and came to New York to participate in the construction of the canal. They brought not only labor, but also the most advanced engineering technology in the world at that time.

A ship lock near Rochester on the Erie Canal (picture from shutterstock @ Hank Shiffman)


In the construction of the Erie Canal, technologies such as rigid cement, diversion aqueduct, and aqueduct suitable for water bodies were invented and applied for the first time. During the construction of the canal, the craftsmen also trained into an experienced and skilled engineering team, laying a solid foundation for the future economic development of the United States.

A ship lock near Lockport on the Erie Canal (picture from shutter @ Spiroview Inc)

Finally, the canal was completed on October 26, 1825, and took eight years. During a grand ceremony, Clinton and other dignitaries boarded the Seneca Chieftain in Buffalo, driving west to east on the canal. After entering the Hudson River, head south, and finally reached the end of the journey in New York City. Clinton poured a bucket of water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic Ocean, calling it “the union of water.”

Since then, the Great Lakes and the Atlantic have been connected within the United States.

Published in 1855, illustration of the Rockport section of the Erie Canal (Image: wikipedia @ Herrmann J. Meyer)

The birth of New York’s economic center

The operation of the Erie Canal has achieved immediate and rich returns. The toll revenue of the first year of opening was close to one million US dollars, and in the next nine years, it achieved profitability.

It also significantly reduces the cost of transporting bulk agricultural products from the west. Canal boats are carried by mules or horses and can carry 30 tons of agricultural products, far more than trucks, which reduces the cost of transporting products from Buffalo to New York City from $ 100 per ton to less than $ 10 per ton.

Photo from 1890, passing through the barge on the Erie Canal, the shipping cost of this ship can be much cheaper than the previous land transportation (picture from shutterstock @ Everett Historical)

The canal also provides access for easterners who wish to migrate west. The town rises along the canal route, and small cities become big cities because of it.

When the area west of the Appalachian Mountains first came to the United States, there were only a few thousand white people there. By 1810, the number of immigrants had exceeded 270,000, and by 1860 it had increased to 6.93 million. The Chicago population alone There are 1 million. Greatly enhanced the US government’s ability to integrate the eastern and western regions, which is of great significance to further expand the territory to the west.

And after consolidating its waterway status, Chicago will soon usher in the era of the magnificent railway, and once again become the inland railroad hub of the United States due to its advantageous location , Economic integration and rapid development in the United States (image from Google map)

The canal also had an important influence on the formation of the American nationalist spirit. It showed optimism and confidence in the Republican government independent of Europe. Newly built canal towns, including Rome, Utica, Troy, and Syracuse, all derive their names from the classical cities of ancient Greece and Rome. The buildings on the canal are also designed in accordance with Greek and Roman architectural styles.

Erie Canal Coast

The success of the Erie Canal has also prompted other states to begin their own canal projects, with engineers trained on the Erie Canal spreading across the country to provide expertise for these projects.

Of course, the most important influence of the canal was the cultivation of the big city of New York at its eastern end. New York was much smaller than Philadelphia and Boston because of poor shipping conditions. But after the canal was opened, New York became a water and land hub on the East Coast.

The Great Lakes, Mississippi, Atlantic Ocean, and the Erie Canal are connected together, which makes a circular waterway system in the eastern United States. Chicago, New York, and New Orleans are the most important Hubs

In 1848, the completion of the Illinois-Michigan Canal connecting the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River transformed the entire North American hinterland into a backyard in New York. To this day, New York Harbor is still the Atlantic home port of all cities in the Midwest. As a result, New York became the economic center of the Americas. The geographical advantage of the new continent over the old continent makes New York a global economic center, but it is only a matter of time.

Today, the Erie Canal is less important than transportation through the Mohawk Valley Railway from Albany, but it is still considered one of the most outstanding achievements in the United States.

The ruins of the railway bridge on the Erie Canal (picture from shutter @ Nicholas Piccillo)

In 2000, the U.S. Congress designated the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor to recognize the canal system as the most successful and influential construction project in North America, and said that the Erie Canal has “unparalleled national significance” and symbolizes the United States National spirit.


References:

Erie Canal Written By: Frances C. Robb See Article History

Eriecanal.org

wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal

NPS New York State Canal System Special Resourse Study (r), 1998

Official History of New York. Laws of the State of New York, Albany: Websters and Skinner, 1807

“A Probe into the Origin of the Erie Canal in the United States”, Lu Chang, Nankai University

This article is from the WeChat public account: Earth Knowledge Bureau (diqiuzhishiju) , author: that day the Soviet Union