Arch Merrill. one of the foremost scholars of the canal has written: When the Erie Canal was done and a mighty column of traffic began to parade its shallow. narrow waters. it was truly said: "They have built the longest canal in the world in the least time. with the least experience. for the least money and for the greatest public benefit." Mr. Merrill continued: The building of the Canal was the most significant single event in the early history of the state and of this region. It also had farreaching national import. It forged an economic bond between the East and West that insured a Union victory when the Civil War came. It built great cities. peopled great states. loosed a flood tide of immigration westward. It gave a rich frontier an outlet to the sea. It made New York State an economic unit . . .
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immigration