Building The Erie Canal

Building The Erie Canal — page 1 — Many mountain ranges such as the Marble Mountains of California were some of the obstacles in the way of American expansion 4

Building The Erie Canal — page 2 — Chapter 1 CONNECTING WITH THE HINTERLANDS Only 20 years after it became independent the United States gained a region that doubled the country’s size And barely 50 years later it reached across immense plains and towering mountain ranges to touch the Pacific Ocean One early step that helped this rapid expansion succeed was a series of improvements in transportation Before railroads pulling barges along canals was the logical way to move heavy loads The Erie Canal America’s first major canal had an enormous impact on New York State’s economy 5

Building The Erie Canal — page 3 — Major land additions to the continental United States When the year 1803 began the United States of America had only 17 states and one large territory surrounding the Great Lakes Most of the five and a half million Americans lived along the eastern edge of a huge undeveloped continent Georgia was the southernmost state and the western border of the country was the Mississippi River But by the end of 1803 President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the vast and unknown Louisiana Territory More land was quickly acquired The Pacific Northwest became part of the United States in 1846 when the boundary with Canada was defined By 1848 the country had added Florida and California as well as Texas and the Southwest Another small addition in 1853 the Gadsden Purchase formed today’s continental United States in size and shape not counting Alaska OREGON TERRITORY 1846 ESTABLISHED 1818 CEDED BY MEXICO 1848 LOUISIANA PURCHASE 1803 GADSDEN PURCHASE 1853 TEXAS ANNEXED 1845 6

Building The Erie Canal — page 4 — The challenge of exploring all of this newly acquired territory was immense But Americans were up to the challenge By 1869 a transcontinental railroad linked the 3,500 miles 5,633 kilometers of wilderness between the two coasts President Thomas Jefferson 1743 1826 The land suddenly became more accessible to explorers settlers and people bringing supplies and mail And there were nearly six times as many Americans as when the century began People had not only explored and settled much of the new land but also had made it easier to transport goods and communicate with each other from sea to shining sea UNITED STATES PRIOR TO 1803 CEDED BY SPAIN 1819 7

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