Focus: Erie Canal

Using this engaging set of primary source documents, which includes a full-color map and profile of the canal, an official canal guide, contemporary illustrations, and the boyhood recollections of a man who traveled west along the canal, students will learn how the Erie Canal served as a catalyst for great social and economic change in New York State and throughout the nation. Support Materials: * Illustrated Broadsheet Essay * Timeline * Critical Thinking Questions with Response Key * Recommended Reading List 6 Primary Source Documents: * Excerpt from Memorial of the Citizens of New York, in favor of a Canal Navigation between the Great Western Lakes and the tide-waters of the Hudson, 1816 * Map and Profile of the Erie Canal, 1825 * "The Erie Canal: The Nation's First School of Civil Engineering," a collection of contemporary photographs and illustrations * Erie and Junction Canal Guide, June 10, 1833 * "Canal Life" illustration from Harper's Weekly, December 20, 1879 * Excerpt from The Bark Covered House by William Nowlin, 1876