WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Erie Canal drastically reduced both the travel time and the cost of shipping commodities such as grain and lumber from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard. It led to an immediate and dramatic increase in the shipment of such goods, and the state’s investment in the monumental project paid off handsomely.

Detailed explanation-2: -By creating the connection between New York and New Orleans, the Ohio & Erie Canal helped people and products flow across America-fueling westward expansion, a national market economy and burgeoning regional industrial might.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Erie Canal reduced travel time in half, and slashed shipping costs 90%. The typical cost for moving goods over land was $100 per ton; via the canal, the cost was $10 per ton. Within 10 years of the canal’s opening, that cost had further dropped to $4 per ton.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Erie Canal reduced shipping time from New York to Buffalo from three weeks, to just 8 days. The cost of shipping a ton of cargo from New York to Buffalo dropped from $90 to $4, bolstering trade along the Erie Canal.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Erie Canal opened the Midwest to settlement. By providing a direct water route to the Midwest, the canal triggered large-scale emigration to the sparsely populated frontiers of western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.