When the notion of connecting the Atlantic to the Great Lakes was first raised; and indeed, when the first surveys for a canal route were conducted, there was not a single professional civil engineer in the entire United States. Western NY State was considered “The Frontier” and Ohio “The West.” The Erie Canal follows the story of the canal from conception to completion. Like the canal itself, this story does not proceed in a straight line, did not happen all at once, and did not end in anything like the manner its origins suggested. But much of what happened in the years after its completion in 1825—from Abolitionism to Women’s Suffrage to the 19th Century religious revival that took place in its wake—traces directly back to the 4-mph “Superhighway” the canal represented to the people of the time.

This course will be presented in a lecture format.