AMERICAN CANAL SYSTEM

American canal system

American Canal System

Introduction

The canal age emerged in us from 1790 to 1855; fewer records were kept at that time. Canal system played an important role in industrialization as it would have not been possible without inexpensive transportation. The North West territory was hampered due to the forests, mountains, swamps, which were acquired after the revolutionary war. Settlers there were earning their living by farming and by manufacturing products. Canals at that time played an important role as they benefited both East and Midwest. For centuries these canals have provided inexpensive and reliable transport. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington believed that they are the key to the future world (Baker, 2007).

Erie Canal (1826)

In 1826 Erie Canal was opened which bridged the Appalachians these were a great help in commerce. These canals were a great help in trade between different countries. The opening of Erie Canal helped in fuelling up trade between the Hudson River. This canal made New York City a trade hub as it contributed to the expansion of the city. Canal construction inspired many Americans before the invention of dynamite and drills. Lee Montgomeny as a contractor of Chesapeake and Ohio canal was an ambitious project whose intention was to penetrate the Allegheny Mountain from Washington DC to the Ohio River. Erie Canal was one of the marvelous inventions of 19th century. It proved to be the initiator which opened many bridges such as social and economic changes which came in America due to it. It brought a new wave in the young nation. This canal helped and gave access to the rich land resources and due to it made New York City as the commercial city in US (Decatanzaro, Hutchinson, 1985a).

The American System encourages government support as well as a modern market economy in which commerce and education have more weight than land and labor ownership. Whigs at that time sought to promote rapid industrialization of protectionist taxes, monetary policy oriented business with a new Bank of the United States and a vigorous program of internal improvements mainly roads and a canal system whose funds come from the sale of public lands. The Whigs party also promoted the establishment of schools and private universities, charitable and cultural institutions.

In contrast to this the Democrats followed the political philosophy of Jefferson, an agricultural society claiming that the traditional life on the farm is the source of republican simplicity, while modernization is feared the arrival of a caste politically powerful and wealthy of aristocrats who will endanger democracy.

The Democrats want an America that grows horizontally popular, accumulating more land under the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny ". The Whigs have a different view: they want to deepen the socio-economic system by adding new layers, such as banks, factories and railroads. Ironically, Democrats have an easier time getting their politics at the national level while the Whigs are best spend their modernization projects, such as canals and railroads, at the state ...