USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Expert-Verified Answer. The Erie Canal’s opening is the event that most directly contributed to the New York City’s growth as the leading trade center of the nation. The Erie Canal connects the Great Lakes and the Atlantic ocean through the Hudson River.

Detailed explanation-2: -The completion of the Erie Canal spurred the first great westward movement of American settlers, gave access to the rich land and resources west of the Appalachians and made New York the preeminent commercial city in the United States.

Detailed explanation-3: -But the construction of the Erie Canal gave New York City (via the Hudson River) direct water access to the Great Lakes and regions of the Midwest.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Civil War confirmed the single political entity of the United States, led to freedom for more than four million enslaved Americans, established a more powerful and centralized federal government, and laid the foundation for America’s emergence as a world power in the 20th century.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Erie Canal. The Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825, providing overland water transportation between the Hudson River on the east and Lake Erie at the western end. Popularly known as “Clinton’s Folly, ” the eight-year construction project was the vision of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton.