USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Erie Canal is a 363-mile waterway that connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River in upstate New York. The channel, which traverses New York state from Albany to Buffalo on Lake Erie, was considered an engineering marvel when it first opened in 1825.

Detailed explanation-2: -Renamed the New York State Barge Canal (later the New York State Canal System), it connected the main artery of the old Erie Canal with Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, and the Finger Lakes. This new waterway could handle steamships carrying 2, 000 metric tons of cargo.

Detailed explanation-3: -The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles, the waterways link the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, Niagara River and Lake Erie with communities rich in history and culture.

Detailed explanation-4: -On April 15th, 1817, the New York State Legislature finally approved construction of the Erie Canal, which Jesse Hawley had written so compellingly about just a decade earlier. The bill authorized $7 million for construction of the 363-mile long waterway, which was to be 40 feet wide and four feet deep.