Carol Sheriff’s The Artificial River
The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862

APUS, Section 4 Mr. Gordinier January 8th, 2013 All situations and topics have
The Canal not only sped up transportation, but also cost much less for goods to be delivered. Before the Canal goods from Albany to Buffalo would increase to five or six times their actual value just because of transportation. This helped business prosper and served as a positive aspect for the Canal. Although transportation was faster if a boat along the Canal crashed it would hold things up for a long time. A boat crashing had a chain effect on other boats because they then would be slowed down as well. People would not get where they needed to be on time was well as goods. A lot of the times if a boat did crash the goods were not able to be salvaged and hurt the business that owned them. There was also the issue of passing under bridges and how low they were. In a play of William Dunlap the brother of Amelia describes the inconvenience this was saying “In constant dread of lifting your head above your knees for fear of having it knock’d off your shoulders by a bridge” (Sheriff 55). Inconveniences such as these eventually encouraged travelers to find a different source of transportation; the railroad. The railroad had advantage over the Canal in the fact that it could run all year round. Individuals took advantage of the Canal and used it to help themselves gain profit. Businessmen and entrepreneurs saw the Canal as an opportunity to make money. Some bought their own