ABSTRACT
Construction of the Erie Canal illustrates the benefits of macro-engineering in the less complicated—and less congested—world of the early nineteenth century. The Erie Canal joining the Hudson River with Lake Erie was the remarkable achievement of determined men and the preeminent product of the rapid economic growth in the first decades of our republic. The Erie Canal provided the greatest benefits and was the longest in service—until 1910, when the current Barge Canal was built. In fact, 50 men contracted for the first 58 miles in what was really a series of mini-canals, each one tested with water before settlement into the system. The Erie Canal did more to force the government into regulation of that commerce than anything prior to the railroads. The New York Federalists worried about a possible shift of the national center of gravity away from New York to the Potomac and, under Jefferson, away from commerce and industry to agriculture.
