# Historic Highways of America/Volume 14/Chapter 5

CHAPTER V
LOCAL INFLUENCES OF THE CANAL
A CAREFUL study of the influence of the Erie Canal upon the great commonwealth which built it has been made by Mr. Julius Winden, and the results of his investigation, important and interesting, have been placed at the disposal of the present writer. The entire region affected by the canal, from New York City to Buffalo, is divided by Mr. Winden into three sections; the first covers the Hudson River valley from the mouth of the Mohawk to the sea; the second includes the Mohawk Valley from the Hudson to Utica where the canal left the valley; the third extends from the Mohawk to Lake Erie. The sections are designated, respectively, as Section A, Section B, and Section C. ​Again, each section is divided into three classes; Class I includes the land within six miles of the canal route; Class II includes all land between six and twelve miles from the canal route; Class III includes all land within the counties tapped by the canal lying at a greater distance than twelve miles from its course. Mr. Winden first discusses the effect of the canal on the population of the counties through which it ran, and thus summarizes his results:
"Of the three sections considered, we have found one, Section A, with a certain condition of the population due to the influence of an old waterway, the Hudson river. Population was concentrated along the banks of the river and decreased as the distance from the river increased. The extension of this waterway into new and broader fields resulted in a very great increase of the concentration of population on the banks of the stream, but had little or no influence on the population at a distance of six or more miles from it.
"The second region, Section B, presented conditions very similar to the one preced​ing. It was influenced by an old waterway, the Mohawk River, but this waterway was not very serviceable. The population was concentrated along the course of the waterway, but not as markedly as in Section A. An increase in the serviceability of the waterway and an extension into new fields had the effect of concentrating the population along the course of the waterway much greater than in Section A. The region six or more miles from the waterway was little affected or none at all.
"In the third region, Section C, we found a new region, having no waterway and having less population per square mile where a waterway was to be made than the region a short distance from the future course of the waterway. The effect of the waterway was to increase the population very rapidly along its course and produce a great concentration of population there. In the remote region the population was also greatly increased. We also notice that this concentration of population in Class I along this watercourse tended to mass into cities."
The per capita valuation of property ​next engages attention and the result is thus outlined:
"As before mentioned Section A was an old well-settled region during this period, and although property had a tendency to mass along the banks of the Hudson and gradually to diminish as the distance from the river increased, still this increase of the valuation of property advanced much more slowly than the increase in population.
"Section B was an old and well settled region, but it was not as old as Section A. Here valuation massed along the canal but it did not increase as rapidly as the population, still it increased more rapidly in proportion to the increase of population than did Section A.
"Section C was a new region where the increase in valuation kept pace with the increasing population and even exceeded it.
"A re-invigoration of an old region by increased commercial advantages such as the Erie canal provided for in Sections A and B results in an increase of property within about six miles of that commercial route, but it has little effect outside of that limit. This increase of property, however, ​does not keep pace with the increase in population, i.e. property in this case is more stable and unchangeable than population. On the other hand, in a new region never having felt the influence of a commercial route such as the Erie Canal, property within about six miles of the route increases as rapidly and even more rapidly than the population. This increase of property is not confined within the six mile limit, but extends much farther away from the route than it does in an old well-settled region having previously felt the influence of a commercial route. Thus the extension of a waterway into new fields is beneficial to the region along the banks of the old waterway, but affects the territory a distance from the route little or none at all; while a waterway extended into a new region is of very great benefit to the region immediately along the route and it is also beneficial, to a less degree, to the remote regions. It must be remembered that a waterway is different from a railroad, in that material can be shipped at almost any point, while a railroad has certain stations were material can be shipped; thus a ​waterway's influence is continuous along the line, while the influence of the railroad is at points where there are stations.
"In the distribution of real and personal property in 1835 very significant results are shown. In Class I of Section A the real property per capita was $150.22 and the personal property was $49.11; in Class II the real property was $195.96 and the personal $34.34; in Class III the real property was $166.49 and the personal was $37.22. The least real property per capita and the least personal property per capita was in Class II, and Class III was second in both. In Class I of Section B the real property was $133.81 per capita and the personal $49.71; in Class II the real property was $108.92 and the personal $17.41; in Class III the real property was $90.68 and the personal $13.34.
"Both, real and personal property were greatest in Class I, Class II was second in both, and Class III was third in both. Class I of Section C was first in both real and personal property; Class II was second and Class III was third in both real and personal property. This section shows the same relations that we find in Section B.
"The location of the real and personal property in the three sections considered indicates very clearly that the personal property was massed along the waterway; in Class I and as the distance increased from the waterway the personal property diminished."
Of the improvement of land Mr. Winden remarks:
​"It may be stated that there was a slight tendency for the improvement of land to increase concomitantly with the increase in population; but the topography of the country and other elements entered in to such an extent as to nearly destroy this parallel growth. The improvement of land is much more stable and less likely to sudden and great changes than is the population. For this reason we would not expect to find as large a per cent of improved land in proportion to the population in Section C as we would find in Section B, nor as large a per cent in Section B as in Section A; because Section A is the oldest in settlement, and Section C the youngest. The per cent of improved land as a whole in the three sections supports this conclusion. But in comparing the various classes of each section with each other, however, we do not always find the greater per cent of improved land in the region of the most concentrated population. In Section A, in 1820 and 1825, a larger per cent of land was improved in Class II than in Class I, while the population in Class I was much greater than in Class II. In Section B in ​1835 Class II had a larger per cent of improved land than Class I while the population was nearly twice as great per square mile in the latter as in the former. A somewhat similar condition also existed in Section C. In 1820 and 1825 both the population and the per cent of improved land were greater in Class II than in Class I; in 1835 the per cent of improved land was still greater in Class II but the population was much less than in Class I. The above conditions indicate that the population and also the wealth increased with such remarkable rapidity in Class I along the entire watercourse independently of the topographical conditions and in spite of natural disadvantages. They also indicate that the concentration of population in Class I was much greater than the population per square mile taken alone would seem to indicate. This is especially true of Class I in 1835."
The effect of the canal on live stock is thus summed up:
"During this entire period Classes II and III raised more stock in proportion to their population than did Class I. At the ​beginning of the period in 1820, Class II in Sections A and B and Class III in Section C raised the greatest number of horses. Class III in Sections B and C and Class II in Section A raised the greatest number of cattle; Class III of Sections A and C and Class II of Section B raised the greatest number of sheep. At the close of the period in 1835, Class II in all three sections raised the greatest number of horses, Class III in Sections A and C and Class II in Section B raised the greatest number of cattle. Class III in all the sections raised the greatest number of sheep. It is thus clearly seen that the area of the least concentration of population was the region in which stock-raising was most extensively carried on. By this it is not meant that there is a smaller amount of stock raised in a given area, where the population is dense than in a sparsely settled region, but that there is a smaller proportion raised to the population."
Mr. Winden's summary in connection with the study of aliens and foreigners is most interesting:
"It is thus clearly seen that if New York ​State received her just share of all the classes of emigrants arriving in the United States during this period, she would have added to her population, a strong, useful and able-bodied class of men who would aid her greatly in her development.
"Why this region of concentrated population, the towns along the Erie canal, should contain such a large part of the foreign element is probably due to numerous causes. This was a region of great activity and growth; a place where there was room for unskilled as well as skilled labor of all kinds; it was along a direct route of transportation and travel to the great and growing west and a foreigner knowing nothing about the country and having no definite destination would stop along the route wherever he could make a living. Although chance may have largely determined the location of the foreigners in this new country, his old environment was also an important factor in determining his place of settlement. He came from an old and well settled region in Europe where the population was concentrated and the country often overcrowded and in com​ing to America he would tend to seek a region of somewhat similar characteristics. He found these conditions with the exception of an overcrowded population in the densely settled country immediately along the Erie canal and the Hudson.
"In turning to the New Englander in New York we find a people of an entirely different education and character from that of the foreigner. This is seen most strikingly in the choice of their location. They were shrewd, frugal, and hardworking farmers who left their New England homes because they failed to supply their wants. In seeking a new home in the west they naturally followed their old occupation and for this reason we find the larger part of them in the rural region. In Class I of Section A, 4.1% was of New England birth; in Class II 2.7%, and in Class III, 5.2%; in Class I of Section B, 5.7%, in Class II, 9.7%, and in Class III, 10.1%; in Class I of Section C, 10.1%, in Class II, 10.3% and in Class III, 11.7%. The New Englander also tended to shun the large cities. In Albany 5.1% was of New England birth, and in Utica 7.8%, while in Class I of Sec​tion B, in which these two cities were situated, 5.7% was of New England birth. In Buffalo 9.3% was of this origin and in Rochester 9.6% while in Class I of Section C 10.1% originated in New England.
"The preceding discussion leads us to the conclusion that the foreigner was massed in the region of concentrated population and especially in the cities, and as the concentration of population diminished, the per cent of foreigners decreased. In other words, along the Erie Canal lay the larger part of the foreign population. Of this foreign population in New York State, the larger per cent was born in Great Britain and her dependencies, and this class was chiefly found where the population was thickest. The New Englander constituted a larger part of those born in other states of the Union and they were found chiefly in the rural regions."
In his study of politics as presented in the territory traversed by the Erie Canal Mr. Winden raises most interesting questions. We quote him in full, appending his notes:
"Turning now to the political aspect in ​New York State during this period we find a complicated problem. In the election of 1830 there were two important parties. Summing up the principles for which these two important political parties of New York stood in this election, we find that the Anti-Masonic or National Republican party opposed the Masonic order; supported Clay's American policy of protection and the extension of the internal improvement system; catered to the workingmen and opposed the administration of both the national and state government. In other words it was like all new parties, gathering to its fold all the radical elements by adopting some of their ideas. In the campaign which followed they made an aggressive canvass, making the most of the Morgan outrage. The Republican, or ​Masonic party, as it was called by the Anti-Masons, tried to be indifferent to the Masonic order and disavowed all support of it; opposed the American system and did not advocate an extensive local improvement system and supported the national and state administrations. They conducted a defensive campaign against the accusations of the Anti-Masons.
"Before considering the vote of the election it is necessary to take a hasty view of the social and economic conditions of the state at that time. Morgan had disappeared in western New York four years before and this had caused a great local opposition to the Masons which had spread throughout the state and even into neighboring states. The internal improvement movement had assumed stupendous proportions; the state had completed four canals within the last seven years; the Champlain in 1823, the Erie in 1825, the Oswego in 1828, and the Cayuga and Seneca in 1829. And the people were clamoring ​for more. Just after the completion of the Erie canal in 1825, petitions for other canals had poured in from almost every county in the west. Thus it can be safely said that the entire western part of the state was in favor of internal improvements at public expense.
"Now considering the vote, we find that Section A gave a large majority to Mr. Throop, the Republican candidate. In Section B he also received a majority but not as great as in Section A. In this section an important fact is noticeable, Classes II and III gave a smaller majority to Mr. Throop than Class I. These two classes having no canals thus expressed their desire for some means of communication. Section C cast a large majority in favor of Mr. Granger, the National Republican candidate. The result in Section C was just what we should expect. Class III of this ​section which was in most need of some means of communication voted a much larger majority in favor of Mr. Granger than Classes I and II. The cities, however, gave a majority to Mr. Throop, Utica casting a larger and Albany a smaller majority than the class in which they are situated. Buffalo also cast a majority in favor of Mr. Throop, although the class in which it is situated cast a majority in favor of Mr. Granger. (See table.)
"Thus it is clearly shown that the people largely voted for the respective candidates because they stood for economic principles which were of direct interest to them. The most densely populated east determined the election and Mr. Throop, the Republican candidate, was elected by ​a vote of 128,842. Mr. Granger received 120,361 votes, mostly from the west and rural regions which were demanding internal improvements, while Mr. Williams, the candidate of the dissatisfied Working Men's party, received 2,332 votes.
​"In the presidential election of 1840, strictly economic principles were not prominent. The Whig National convention met at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1839, and nominated William H. Harrison of Ohio and John Tyler of Virginia for President and Vice-president respectively. They conducted the campaign with unbounded enthusiasm, attacking Van Buren and his financial policy with great energy. Although they adopted no platform, they favored loose construction, the American system of protective tariff, and internal improvement by the national government.
"The Democratic national convention met at Baltimore, May 5, 1840, and adopted a strict constructionist platform, denying the power of Congress to carry on internal improvements, to protect manufactures, to charter a National Bank, or to interfere with slavery in the states. It unanimously renominated President Van Buren, but left nominations for the Vice-presidency to be made by the various states. The simulta​neous appearance of the 'Panic of 1837' and Van Buren in the presidential chair produced the belief in the popular mind that he was the cause of that unfortunate financial distress. The vote in New York is likely to indicate the two following facts: where the financial distress was greatest and the region most favorable to internal improvements. Van Buren carried Section A, with the largest majority in Class III. Recalling that this was a rural region, very stable in its population and valuation, we see that it would be least affected by financial distress. Classes I and II of Section B were also carried by Van Buren, but the rural region, Class III, was carried by Harrison. Section C was also carried by Harrison, with the largest majority in Class III. The large cities also gave a majority to Harrison and although Albany and Utica are situated in a class which cast a larger vote for Van Buren they gave a majority to Harrison; and even Buffalo gave a greater per cent of its vote to Harrison than the class in which it is situated. The large majority in Class III of Section C may be accounted for by the enthusiasm ​for internal improvements in this region and the majority in the cities by their opposition to Van Buren because of the great distress they were subject to during the Panic of 1837.
"We find the state issues and results of the election somewhat similar to those of the national election in the state. The Whigs nominated Governor W. H. Seward and the Democrats nominated Mr. Bouck. The Whigs advocated internal improvements upon a large scale, while the Democrats advocated retrenchment in this work. The Albany Argus of September 25, 1840, states of Mr. Seward, the Whig nominee for governor: Departing from the democratic policy of enlarging the Erie canal by means of its revenues only, he has urged upon the legislature, its 'more speedy' enlargement, at all hazards, and the creation of a debt for that purpose—a debt which alone will absorb all our revenues, leaving the principal to be paid by direct taxation. He has recommended that state work be undertaken, the cost of which will involve the people in debt of at least $40,000,000. In addition he has ​urged upon the legislature loans to corporations—of the credit of the state to an indefinite amount—for almost every mad scheme speculators might suggest.
"Summing up the most important internal improvement works for which Mr. Seward advocated state aid, we have, the enlargement of the Erie canal, the Black River canal in the counties of Oneida and Lewis and joining the Black River with the Erie canal, the Genesee Valley canal in the counties of Broome, Chenango, Madison, and Oneida joining the Chenango river with the Erie Canal (the two canals last mentioned would unite Lake Ontario with ​the Susquehanna River), and the Hudson and Erie Railroad previously mentioned. Turning to the results of the election we find that Section A gave a large majority to Mr. Bouck with the greatest per cent of the vote in Class I, and the least in Class III; Classes I and II of Section B also cast a majority for Mr. Bouck, but Class III and all of Section C gave a majority to Mr. Seward. Class III of the last mentioned section gave the largest per cent and Class II the next to the largest per cent of the vote to Mr. Seward. Recalling that the Hudson and Erie railroad was to pass through the entire length of the southern part of Class III of Section C and also through Class III of Section A, we see the cause of the increased vote above the neighboring classes for Mr. Seward. (See Table.) The conclusion to be drawn from the above fact that the rural region which was most desirous of obtaining some means of communication had cast the larger per cent for Mr. Seward who supported an extensive system of internal improvement, is that economic conditions largely determined the vote.
"In conclusion it may be stated that the Erie Canal was a great stimulus to the growth of population and the increase in valuation of property along the entire ​waterway of the Hudson and Erie Canal. The greatest activity, however, was felt west of the head waters of the Mohawk along the canal proper. This concentration of population tended to turn the attention of the people away from rural pursuits and resulted in their congregation in cities where they developed a commercial life. Along this line of dense population the immigrating foreign element gathered in large numbers while the New England settlers confined themselves to the rural regions. The political effect of the canal was to produce a great enthusiasm for internal improvements which was the main political issue in the state during the following years. The western part of the state and rural regions at a distance from the canal clamored for further improvements which would benefit them, and accordingly cast a majority of their votes for the candidates who stood for an extensive internal improvement system while the east opposed them. It should also be mentioned that in each section with the exception of Section A in the election of 1830 and the presidential election of 1840, the region with the ​largest number of foreigners cast a greater per cent of its vote for the conservative candidate than the region containing the greatest number of New Englanders. Thus it is clearly seen that political life is largely influenced by economic conditions and the character of the people."
* ↑ The Influence of the Erie Canal upon the population along its course, bearing the imprint of the University of Wisconsin, 1901.
* ↑ Hammond, Political History of New York, vol. ii, pp. 369, 378. McMaster, History of U.S., vol. v, p. 109.
* ↑ Freeman's Journal, Cooperstown, Otsego County, New York, September 20, 1830, p. 2, c. 2.
* ↑ Freeman's Journal, August 16, 1830, p. 2, c. 6. Seward, Autobiography of W. H. Seward from 1801 to 1834, p. 78.
* ↑ Hammond, Political History of New York, vol. ii, p. 396.
* ↑ Hammond, Political History of New York, vol. ii, p. 397.
* ↑ Jenkins, Political History of New York, p. 363.
* ↑ The following counties sent petitions to the Legislature: Tioga, Steuben, Yates, Ontario, Wayne, Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkins, Chenango, Broome, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Herkimer, Lewis, Jefferson, and Chautauqua. (Laws of the State of New York, relative to Erie and Champlain canals, 1825, i, pp. 279–281.)
* ↑ This fact is supported by Mr. Jenkins in his Political History of New York. He says: "Mr. Granger received a very heavy vote in the sixth and eighth districts; and it is probable his friends had confidently expected that the Chenango canal interests would secure his election. "The sixth Senatorial district to which the feeling in favor of the Chenango canal was mainly confined, gave Mr. Granger more than 2,000 majority. Notwithstanding it had given 6,000 the other way in 1829." The majority for Mr. Granger in the eighth district was nearly 13,000.
* ↑ Jenkins, Political History of New York, p. 372.
* ↑ W. N. Holland, Life and Political Opinions of Van Buren: Attitude toward internal improvements, pp. 269–274.
* ↑ This is probably a reference to such loans as were authorized to be made to the New York and Erie Railroad. The New York and Erie Railroad was incorporated in 1832 and in 1836 the legislature authorized a loan of the credit of the state to the company for the amount of $3,000,000 subject to certain restrictions, some of which were that the route of the road should be through the Southern tier of counties in the state, one-fourth was to be completed in ten years, one-half in fifteen years, and the whole of it in twenty years. The road was to begin at Tappan, Rockland County, on the Hudson, pass through Goshen, Oswego, Elmira, and other towns and end at Dunkirk on Lake Erie.—Tanner, Canals and Railroads of the United States, 1840, p. 74.
* ↑ Lossing, Empire State, p. 493.
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