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Politics in the Margins: Elkanah Watson, DeWitt Clinton, and the History of the Erie Canal in the Early American Republic

2022; Volume: 103; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/nyh.2022.0007

2328-8132

Steven C. Smith,

Archaeology and Natural History

Politics in the MarginsElkanah Watson, DeWitt Clinton, and the History of the Erie Canal in the Early American Republic Steven Carl Smith (bio) The small hamlet of Buffalo, tucked away in the northwest corner of New York, was in a jubilant mood in late October 1825. Eight years after breaking ground on the Erie Canal, DeWitt Clinton and the state’s leading politicians gingerly stepped aboard the steamboat Seneca Chief to begin a journey that would come to symbolize New York’s transformation into a powerful, modern economy destined to be what Clinton referred to as “the great depot and warehouse of the western world.”1 An expensive and ambitious public works project, the Canal was a high-risk, high-reward proposition. That it was completed at all was as important as the waterway itself. Having witnessed years of failed infrastructure projects, Clinton hedged a risky bet by imposing his political will, convincing the state’s assembly to finance the construction of the Canal. “Clinton’s Ditch” became an instant phenomenon, dramatically remaking New York’s economy and demographics as small towns that dotted the canal became boomtowns almost overnight.2 The inaugural voyage from Buffalo to Manhattan was DeWitt Clinton’s victory lap. For ten days, Clinton and his entourage passed with much fanfare from town to town across New York, their arrival and departure marked by volleys of cannon fire that echoed down the Hudson Valley. At each stop, towns strove to outdo the last. According to a pair of observers: [End Page 39] The approach of the party was announced at every stopping place by the discharge of cannon, and the military attended to escort them to some hotel, a short distance from the landing, where tables spread with sumptuous viands and choice wines were prepared for their refreshment, and numbers of citizens united to render these entertainments agreeable, In the night-time were super-added illuminations, rockets, displays of fire-works, and transparencies, descriptive of the happy occasion they were intended to celebrate, and also to pay a deserved compliment to the distinguished individual who had contributed so much toward its completion.3 Newspapers provided breathless coverage at every step of the way. “the work is done,” thundered the editors of the Commercial Advertiser. The “joyful intelligence was proclaimed to our citizens, by roar of artillery,” they wrote, exclaiming that “the great, the gigantic work, of uniting the upper Lakes with the ocean, was completed.”4 The company “started in the first boat, amid the cheers of an assembled multitude, to traverse a new path from the Lakes to the ocean,” reported two observers, “and in every countenance was depicted a deep felt gratitude to Heaven, for having opened to them a source of wealth and prosperity, the extent of which cannot yet be conceived by the mind of man.”5 After connecting to the Hudson River in Albany, Clinton’s fleet finally arrived in New York on November 4, 1825, beginning what was then called the “Festival of Connection,” the grandest party New York City had yet seen. People poured into the streets by the thousands, crowding rooftops when the sidewalks could no longer hold them. Cannons roared and music filled the air as the boats entered the harbor. Once anchored, Clinton picked up an elaborately decorated barrel and poured out water drawn from Lake Erie into the harbor in what became known in popular lore as the “wedding of the waters,” a symbolic union between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Samuel Mitchell then splashed water from the world’s great rivers into the harbor, a public statement that announced the Empire State’s arrival on the world stage. This was just the beginning of the festivities. Thousands of working men, the flags of their trades flying high above their heads, paraded up Greenwich Street to the cheers of more than one hundred thousand people. The party continued into the evening, as people filled their windows with candles and oil lamps. By nightfall, those still standing looked to the sky, mesmerized by a spectacular fireworks show that painted the sky and echoed through the streets and alleyways of Manhattan.6 [End...