page_title: DeWitt Clinton
section_title: Erie Canal
hierarchical_section_title: DeWitt Clinton / Erie Canal
caption_attribution_description: Digital ID: 54047. DeWitt Clinton [mingling the waters of Lake Erie with the Atlantic].. Meeder, Philip -- Wood-engraver. [1826] Notes: Print inserted as extra-illustration. Source: Memoir, prepared at the request of a committee of the Common council of the city of New York, and presented to the mayor of the city, at the celebration of the completion of the New York canals. (&lt;a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/?col_id=190" rel="nofollow"&gt;more info&lt;/a&gt;) Repository: The New York Public Library. Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. See more information about &lt;a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?54047" rel="nofollow"&gt;this image&lt;/a&gt; and others at &lt;a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org" rel="nofollow"&gt;NYPL Digital Gallery&lt;/a&gt;. Persistent URL: &lt;a href="http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?54047" rel="nofollow"&gt;digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?54047&lt;/a&gt; Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, &lt;a href="http://www.nypl.org/legal/flickr.cfm" rel="nofollow"&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;)
context_page_description: DeWitt Clinton was an American politician and naturalist who served as a United States Senator, Mayor of New York City and sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison.
  A nephew of long-time New York Governor George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton served as his uncle's secretary before launching his own political career. As a Democratic-Republican, Clinton won election to the New York State Legislature in 1798 before briefly serving as a U.S. Senator. Returning to New York, Clinton served three terms as Mayor of New York City and also won election as the Lieutenant Governor of New York. In the 1812 election, Clinton won support from the Federalists as well as a group of Democratic-Republicans dissatisfied with Madison. Though Madison won re-election, Clinton carried most of the Northeastern United States and fared significantly better than the previous two Federalist-supported candidates. After the presidential election, Clinton continued to affiliate with the Democratic-Republican Party.
context_section_description: From 1810 to 1824, Clinton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission. He was among the first members, who were appointed in 1810 and planned and surveyed the route to be taken.
  As governor, Clinton was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. He was persuaded by Canal proponent Jesse Hawley to support construction of a canal from the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the upper Hudson River. Many thought the project to be impracticable, and opponents mocked it as "Clinton's Folly" and "DeWitt's Ditch." But in 1817, he got the legislature to appropriate $7 million for construction.
  When the canal was finished in 1825, Clinton opened it and traveled in the packet boat Seneca Chief along the canal to Buffalo. After riding from the mouth of Lake Erie to New York City, he emptied two casks of water from Lake Erie into New York Harbor to celebrate the first connection of waters from the East to the West. The canal was an immense success, carrying huge amounts of passenger and freight traffic. The cost of freight between Buffalo and Albany fell from $100 to $10 per ton, and the state was able to quickly recoup the funds that it had spent on the project through tolls along the canal. The completion of the canal brought about a significant shift in public opinion on Clinton, who was now hailed for completing the canal.
  That change in public opinion was reflected in the newspapers of the time. Previously being filled with harsh criticisms of Clinton and the canal, they now celebrated his accomplishment. For example, an article in the New Hampshire Sentinel began saying, "The efforts of Gov. Clinton to advance the best interest of the State over which he presides are very generally acknowledged both by his constituents and the public abroad. His exertions in favor of the great canal have identified his name with that noble enterprise, and he will be remembered while its benefits are experienced" It ended, "Yield credit to Clinton, and hail him by name".
caption: Print showing DeWitt Clinton mingling the waters of Lake Erie and the Atlantic, 1826.
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