Question

1) Go to Youtube and write 15 observations on these two videos (What is the Erie Canal? (History) 10 minutes and 1 second) and (Erie Canal Locks Time Lapse (5 minutes and 16 seconds).

Answer 1

1. The Erie Canal completed 200 years on 4^th of July 2017.
2. Over the years the canal enabled transportation of goods from Atlantic Ocean to Great Lakes.
3. It helped fuel the economy of the state of New York to a great extent since it was made operational. Even today 80% of population of New York State lives within 20 miles of the Erie Canal.
4. When it was made 200 years ago, it was twice the length of longest canals of Europe and a matter of immense national pride.
5. Elakanah Watson and Phillip Schuyler were the foremost advocates of building Erie Canal from Hudson River to Great Lakes. While Dewitt Clinton ( 10 times mayor of New York City ) was the foremost proponent of this Canal. So the canal was also called Dewitt’s folly or Clinton’s Ditch.
6. Construction of the canal started on 4^th of July 1817 in Rome, New York with the use of tools such as shovels and horses.
7. The construction can be considered as the first practical big project of civil engineering in the USA and it saw many innovations during its construction.
8. Use of locks to hold water and increase water level for boats to ply on certain sections is one of the unique features of the canal. The most impressive of these locks system is in Lockport, Niagra county, New York where 5 locks are used and each of which lifts water level by 12 feet ( so total 60 feet)
9. The construction was completed and opened on October 26^th , 1825 and was officially opened in a ceremony called “ Wedding of the Waters”. Governor Dewitt Clinton boarded a Vessel called Seneca chief and traveled from Buffalo, NY to NY city through the canal and Hudson river and deposited 2 buckets of fresh water of Erie into the Atlantic Ocean port of New York.
10. The canal was an instant success and made NY an economic powerhouse. It cut the journey short from 2 weeks in horse carriages to 5 days through Canal from Albany to Buffalo.
11. In 1835 due to heavy increase in traffic the canal width had to be doubled to 80 feet from 40 feet and depth to 7 feet from 4 feet.
12. Later since 1872 the importance of canal declined due to introduction of railways and steam power. Thus in 1895 new version of canal (which was larger and faster) was introduced to compete better with railroads called the Barge Canal, and was supported by Theodore Roosevelt, the then governor of New York.
13. Today the Erie Canal is not as important as it used to be but its legend lives on. The Erie canal song was written in 1905 and mentions about its low bridges and mule power being used to pull those barges.
14. The lock system in Erie Canal helps a barge to move towards higher elevation areas. The boat enters into a lock area which is then closed by locks, the water is filled in this enclosed area and thus the water level rises in the enclosed area and with it the boat rises. Now the boat can move into the higher elevation section of the canal.
15. Similarly while coming to lower elevations, the lock system works in opposite where by when a boat is in enclosed area the water is taken out from that enclosed area and water level thus falls and boat also goes down with it. Now the boat can move into the lower elevation section of the canal.