Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation

by Peter L. Bernstein

The building of the Erie Canal, like the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal, is one of the greatest and most riveting stories of American ingenuity. Best-selling author Peter Bernstein presents the story of the canal's construction against the larger tableau of America in the first quarter-century of the 1800s. Examining the social, political, and economic ramifications of this mammoth project, Bernstein demonstrates how the canal's creation helped prevent the dismemberment of the American empire and knit the sinews of the American industrial revolution. Featuring a rich cast of characters, including not only political visionaries like Washington, Jefferson, van Buren, and the architect's most powerful champion, Governor DeWitt Clinton, but also a huge platoon of Irish diggers as well as the canal's first travelers, Wedding of the Waters reveals that the twenty-first-century themes of urbanization, economic growth, and globalization can all be traced to the first great macroengineering venture of American history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Economics, New York, Engineering, Historical

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Founder and President of Peter L. Bernstein, Inc., which he established in 1973 as economic consultants to institutional investors and corporations around the world.

In 1951, after teaching economics at Williams College and a five-year stint in commercial banking, Peter became Chief Executive of a nationally–known investment counsel firm, where he personally managed billions of dollars of individual and institutional portfolios. The assets under management at the firm had grown more than tenfold by the time he resigned in 1973 to launch Peter L. Bernstein, Inc.

Peter was the first Editor of The Journal of Portfolio Management in 1974, a widely-read scholarly journal for investment managers and academics in the field of finance and investments. He is now Consulting Editor of the Journal.

He served for many years on the Visiting Committee to the Economics Department at Harvard University, as a Trustee and member of the Finance Committee of the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), and as a Trustee of the Investment Management Workshop sponsored by the Association for Investment Management & Research’(AIMR).

He is the author of nine books in economics and finance plus countless articles in professional journals such as The Harvard Business Review and the Financial Analysts Journal, and in the popular press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Worth Magazine, and Bloomberg publications. He has contributed to collections of articles published by Perseus and FT Mastering, among others

He lectures widely throughout the United States and abroad on risk management, asset allocation, portfolio strategy, and market history.

Peter graduated from Harvard College with a degree in economics, magna cum laude. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

After serving as a member of the research staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and in a civilian capacity at the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, he joined the armed services and rose to the rank of captain in the Air Force in World War II, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services in the European theater.

He taught economics for many years as an adjunct professor on the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York.

Peter has received three major awards from the Association for Investment Management & Research (AIMR), the key organization for investment managers and analysts:

The Award for Professional Excellence, AIMR's highest award,

The Graham & Dodd Award, given annually for the outstanding article in the Financial Analysts Journal for the previous year, and

The James R. Vertin Award, recognizing individuals who have produced a body of research notable for its relevance and enduring value to investment professionals.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago, I left early from a particularly mind-numbing conference in Rochester, NY and as I leisurely drove home I found that my Interstate highway crossed over the Erie Canal. Yes, that Erie Canal. The "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal" canal. The canal that I knew from history (and from How the West Was Won). Frankly, I pride myself in having a wide range of historical facts packed into my cranium, but I have to admit that it never occurred to me that the Erie Canal was still in existence, let alone still in use. And so, having exited from the highway, I sat by the Erie Canal and pondered whether there might be an "Erie Canal Museum". Once my smartphone confirmed that there is one in Syracuse, I decided to do a non-virtual, non-Wikipedia excursion to find out more about the history of the Erie Canal and off I went to Syracuse to find the museum (which turned out to be quite good… if you're ever in the Syracuse area, check it out!).

All of which is a round-about way to introduce Peter Berstein's Wedding of the Waters, which is an excellent and thorough history of the Erie Canal. And more, as it turned out.

Anyone familiar with my reviews knows that I like histories that fill in the blanks and I am often very happy when I find one that provides needed context to the point of not getting to the main event for quite some time. This is one of those books; in this case, the first spadeful of earth doesn't get turned until page 199. Before that, we learn a great deal about the history of canal construction, the politics of New York State and the federal government in the first half of the 19th century, the geography of New York vs. the geography of Virginia, and the rise of DeWitt Clinton. We also are introduced to a canal-centric understanding of the War of 1812, the Panic of 1817, and the first and second United States Banks.

In the end, Mr. Berstein weaves a compelling tale of the creation of the Erie Canal and the ways in which it bound the western lands of the United States with the states on the eastern seaboard, both politically and economically, along with surprising tidbits about the canal's effect on population in Vermont and Connecticut, its role in the repeal of the Corn Laws (and subsequent leadership in the development of industrialization) in Great Britain, and, most importantly, its role in turning New York City into the preeminent city in the world. All of which, by the way, was done on time, within budget, and essentially by hand. And it should also be noted that the proponents of the canal underestimated its potential for success; the canal debt was paid off early and eventually the tolls for using the canal were eliminated entirely.

Mr. Berstein has an accessible writing style and Wedding of the Waters is definitely a "page turner" that I eagerly returned to whenever the opportunity afforded itself. In fact, I have a burning desire to once again visit both the canal and the museum now that I am armed with Mr. Bernstein's insights. And my advice to you is that you go to the museum in Syracuse and, before you leave, pick up a copy of this book. Neither will disappoint.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars rounded down.

First off this book was waaaay tooo looong....I nearly gave up a few times.

Having lived most of my life in Buffalo, next to the Erie canal without much thought about it. I figured it was about time to learn something about this great engineering project. I probably picked the wrong book...

This book focused more on the poltical players and how they battled to get this project done. Washington, Jefferson, DeWitt, Clinton, and Van Buren were all involved. The book went on many tangents on stories of these people and others without good reason in my opinion. There was alot of non-relevant writing in this.

Only the last 10% really involved any continuous information about the engineering and towns involved. The canal was quite an amazing project in the end connecting Buffalo and NY City with a waterway: 363 miles long winding through all kind of mountainous terrain; 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep; 83 locks; 18 aqueducts suspended over valleys and rivers. It began around 1817 and finished around 1825. The canal was a financial success collecting tolls and paying for the costs rather quickly. Then railroads and steam engines arrived in the 1830's, eventually taking over the transportation of goods. So, I did learn that much.

Also, the final western city location was somewhat of a battle as well. Buffalo or Black Rock. The canal's financial windfall lay in the balance for a year or two. It was finally determined Buffalo was the better logistical location. Buffalo was not a large city back in the early 1800's so not a given as the final destination. So, the Erie canal did play an important role in the development of Buffalo's growth into the Queen City. This seems strange now that the Erie canal is not used much other than for slow moving recreational boating and kayaking....

[John Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a remarkable and very interesting story about the building of the Erie Canal (1817-1825). The book's shortcomings, for me, was that the author as a well known economist boringly showed his economic research in full display. The economics of the canal's history is important but I found myself skimming through paragraphs. Constructiion doesn't begin until page 200. Then the story gets very interesting.

The 363 mile canal was the brainchild of DeWitt Clinton, among others. He was the mayor of New York City and New York State. Neither the national government nor the adjoining states offered financial support. So, the State managed the financing and got the project done on time and within budget for the ultimate benefit of the nation. In short time the canal paid for itself. The cost of transportation of goods were greatly reduced, communities west of the Appalachians and along the route were developed, the peoples of the nascent nation were united and New York City became the center of world commerce.

In 1825, there was a grand parade from Lake Erie through the canal and down the Hudson River pass New York City to the Atlantic off Sandy Hook, New Jersy then commemorating the wedding of the waters by pouring water from the lake into the Atlantic. The wedding was successful and so was the long lasting honeymoon.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you learn this book was written by an eminent economist the primary theme emerges more clearly, the canal as an economic engine and creator of wealth and ultimately globalism. It is decidedly not a book about how the canal was built from an engineering standpoint. It is also immersed in the intense political struggles of the time that shaped the debate about building the canal. The 'hero' in terms of vision and political willpower is certainly De Witt Clinton who was mayor of New York City ten times and governor of New York three times. But there is a wide cast of interesting characters that were both pro- and anti-canal at various times including all the early presidents--Washington and Jefferson pushed very hard for the Patowmack (s0-called at the time) canal which was begun quite early after the Revolution, Adams is largely absent, but Madison's War of 1812 may have been a crucial impetus for construction. Washington was a very early visionary of with the idea that canals uniting the Atlantic seaboard with the American interior were necessary for political unity. But as the Potomac (and later C&O) ventures foundered, it was New York that took the lead and despite intense political infighting that is described in often great detail, became the site of the great canal stretching 363 miles from the Hudson at Albany to Buffalo. There is a lot to like in this book in terms of economic analysis, political theater, and historical anecdotes. But it suffered with one basic map, a few sketches and a paucity of information on the actual building process, although there was some description. That it was all done without powered machinery or sophisticated explosives is still amazing. The device used to extract the giant tree roots alone was fascinating although when I think of the thousands of virgin hardwoods extracted it makes me cringe. Construction took roughly eight years (1817-1825) and culminated with a celebration called the 'Wedding of the Waters' at Sandy Hook, NJ where bottles of water from thirteen major rivers (Indus, Ganges, Nile, Amazon, Gambia, Mississippi, Orinoco, Rio de la Plata, Columbia, Seine, Rhine, Thames Danube) and Lake Erie were joined. An interesting list! I wondered how they picked that number and those specific rivers and who went and got the water! But the book is essentially a paean to globalism, per the final line of the book: "Globalization is where the Wedding of the Waters renews it vows'. Which leads me to my biggest criticism, for a book written in 2005, there is barely a nod to the downsides of globalism whether in 1825 or today. Displacement and destruction of indigenous peoples, ruination of habitat, pollution of all sorts, the list goes on and on. The book extols the virtues of increased economic efficiency throughout, barely pausing to consider the observe costs that have left our planet in increasingly dire condition a mere 200 years later. For a book written in 1900 that might be acceptable but less so in the 21st century.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this, though it was a little long for me to use in teaching. I do like to highlight the importance of the Erie Canal when I cover the early 19th century Atlantic World, but there is a lot here on the long and arduous process of getting the canal off the ground, which adds a lot of pages to the book. What I would concentrate on is the end, when Bernstein gets into Britain and free trade, and argues that one of the reasons the British were able to repeal the Corn Laws and devote themselves entirely to free trade was that they knew the Erie Canal was going to just keep funneling American grain across the Atlantic. Another thing I hadn't thought of is the relationship to small scale industry - Bernstein points out that after the canal was finished, NY State almost immediately led the nation in patents granted, because there was this small scale industrial boom all up and down the Hudson and through the canal route. Lots and lots of goods that could not be affordably moved west now could be. So it wasn't entirely the grain heading east, but also the other stuff heading west.
He's got lots of good anecdotes and stories of interesting people in here too, but for my purposes, again, most of the good stories are about the canal in operation. I was less interested in the early stuff. I never knew everyone had to get off the roof of the boat, where they were lounging, every time they went under a bridge. Or you would get bonked (which happened occasionally). I also liked the detail about the canal boat parade to NYC when the thing was completed.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someplace I've never been, which now fascinates me, thanks to this fine book.
Recommended.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very comprehensive account not only of the physical struggles to build the Erie Canal, but of the political and funding struggles to start and finish the project. I had no idea how timely this canal was or for how many decades it was a profitable venture. The canal helped westward expansion of people but also eastward movement especially of foodstuffs that got Europe past the potato famine and on their way with the Industrial Revolution.

[David Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW – Wedding of the Waters, by Peter L. Bernstein (2011)

This book is a compelling history of on one of America’s most ambitious 19th-century infrastructure achievements, the Erie Canal (completed 1825). The book traces the engineering and construction of the canal, but its political, economic, and social after-effects. The subtitle “and the Making of a Great Nation” signals the author’s thesis: this narrow ribbon of water did far more than move boats—it changed the economic geography and destiny of New York, the western states, and ultimately the nation.

Bernstein excels in showing how the canal produced wealth by radically lowering transportation costs, opening inland lands, and linking the Great Lakes interior to the Atlantic seaboard. Western New York farms could suddenly ship grain and lumber east, and eastern manufactures could penetrate the new and developing markets. The Canal contributed to the rise of New York City as a global port, the rise of small-scale industry along the canal corridor (patents, manufacturing springs up), and the early patterns of globalization—grain from the Midwest for British mills, for example.

The narrative brings alive the political drama: visionaries (such as DeWitt Clinton), naysayers (the “Clinton’s Ditch” crowd), financial risk-taking, and the almost improbable construction through wilderness terrain. Bernstein’s economic-historical lens adds depth to why the project succeeded where many earlier efforts failed. The engineers commissioned to build the canal had no experience in this type of project, so the went to England to study the engineering and construction of canals.

Bernstein emphasizes the economic and political story, with less space is devoted to the lived experience of Irish laborers, canal boatmen, or the indigenous populations displaced. The social history could have been deeper. The book powerfully makes the case that the Erie Canal transformed New York’s economy from frontier to commercial super-power. The canal’s reduced freight costs by as much as 95% from western New York to New York City, thereby making western lands agriculturally and industrially viable. This turned New York into a hub of trade, capital, and industry; patents and manufactures proliferated along the route.

It enabled population growth, urbanization, and the rise of towns such as Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and the Hudson corridor—places that were formerly marginal. And turned them into economic power hubs creating incredible wealth and lifting many of the urban and rural poor out of poverty. Thus, the canal is seen not simply as a transport link but as a wealth-creation engine for the state and nation.

While the book does not focus on sectarian religious history, its broad narrative foreshadows how infrastructure and mobility fostered religious movements—such as the early growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints (LDS Church). By linking previously isolated regions, the canal helped create corridors of migration, settlement, print-media, and social ferment—contexts in which new religious movements could establish and spread.

The book emphasizes how interior settlement became viable, meaning people were mobile, information could travel, and new religious ideas could spread beyond the Atlantic seaboard. Bernstein’s account gives helpful background on the transformational soil (so to speak) in which movements like the LDS Church emerged in frontier New York and then moved west.

Farmers in western New York could now tap markets that were formerly prohibitively expensive to reach—raising incomes, increasing land values, and enabling capital investment. Towns along the canal benefited from commerce, lodging, manufacturing, and transport jobs, shifting populations from isolated subsistence farming to wage-earning, commerce-linked livelihoods.

The canal’s success also pioneered public-works policy: by showing that a major infrastructure investment could pay for itself in decades, it influenced future thinking about how to lift regions through government investment rather than waiting for purely private enterprise.

Quotes

“In a remarkable manner, Clinton’s diary of the expedition west in 1810 reveals his lack of a common touch. He seems to be more interested in the life of the birds and the fish he sees than in the personal lives of the farmers he interviews about the cost of their land and the prices they receive for their crops.”

“Construction on the Erie Canal began on the Fourth of July 1817 … Suddenly, all the years of debate, doubt, and division seemed to melt away. It was such a great moment that even former enemies would reverse course and transform themselves into champions of the canal. Looking back, people could only wonder why the struggle had been so protracted.”

[Lisa-Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for engineering feats and American history, so this book was a winner from the start. The 363-mile Erie Canal was completed in 1825 after decades of debate and disappointment. Bernstein approaches the story from a financing point of view (his other books are economic histories) and spends just a bit too long on many failed public financing attempts, but I forgave that because it demonstrated our country’s growing pains. The State of New York finally came through with the money, which was repaid many times over once the canal began operating. But, be patient, the canal construction won’t start until page 199! “Digging a ditch four feet deep and forty feet wide with and labor through hundreds of miles of this primeval forest was the greatest challenge the builders of the Erie Canal would have to confront.”

Pause for a moment on the idea of the primeval forest across upstate New York. It was hard to read about the devastation canal-builders wreaked on those pristine treescapes (ugh) in the name of progress. From Buffalo to Albany, the canal’s path traversed intense chasms, fissures, cliffs, waterfalls, and wilderness, even though America did not have any trained civil engineers yet. The story celebrates the brilliance of Benjamin Wright, James Geddes, and other surveyors who stepped in to help with these enormous obstacles. There were 83 locks on the original canal requiring many engineering inventions to overcome the elevation changes.

I had no idea that the canal boats were pulled by horses who walked along the bank! Sounds clumsy! The typical boat weighed 50 tons and was 77 feet long. Most of the boats carried freight and vastly improved the economic prospects for businesses from Lake Erie to New York City. Some boats carried up to 50 passengers squished into a passenger cabin with little privacy, while other passengers escaped to folding chairs on the cabin’s roof. “At the boatman’s all too frequent cry of ‘low bridge!’ the occupants of a canal boat’s roof had to rush downstairs or throw themselves on the flat surface of the roof…” Sounds terrifying.

One of the most thought-provoking parts of the story was the idea that America could have been limited to a narrow Atlantic seaboard country without the canal. “Populations divided by mountains tend to become separate nations unless some easy means of communication exists between the two…George Washington was keenly aware of this risk…The pioneers moving west had little allegiance to the lands they left behind. If nothing were done, the young United States would be left squeezed behind the mountains and the sea…” Once the canal connected the economies of the burgeoning Midwest with the harbor of New York City, there was nothing stopping us. I enjoyed all the economic implications Bernstein wove into the story.

Of course, the Erie Canal’s greatest utility occurred during the 30-plus years it operated before railroads eclipsed its impact. Still, “the railroad system in its early days was not sturdy enough to carry the heavy bulk of grain and timber that sailed with so little effort on the waters of the Erie Canal.” Today, the Canal is mostly used for recreational traffic and many of the original features are gone forever, but its story of American ingenuity lives on.

[Hubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was skeptical of the force of the story initially, but I grew to appreciate the work that author Bernstein has done here in providing both a geologic / public works history, and the economic / political history that enabled the building of the Erie Canal. It was nice to read about engineering feats associated with the building of the canal, including the need to dig through much of the earth, to use specific types of limestone, the mechanics of how canal locks work in order to move ships against the flow of water.

DeWitt Clinton's role in pushing the canal forth as commissioner and as New York governor is well documented. The inner political finagling would normally not make for compelling reading, but in Bernstein's hands it is compelling enough.

A more recent rendering of a book like this would need to take into account those whose lives were affected for the worse, including the laborers (which was touched upon) and the Native Americans who were displaced as part of the expansion west.

Some amazing tidbits too - there was a huge celebration when the "waters" were finally "wedd[ed]" that lasted 8 days!

[Bookmarks Magazine]

Critics applauded Bernstein's work for its wide scope, thorough approach, and readability. His economic insight is exemplary (the author is an economic consultant and writer), and the book's narrative vitality is appealing. However, as absorbing and vibrant as many critics found the book, it had its share of detractors. Reviewers commonly cited the lack of sufficient illustrations and maps to help readers "visualize the physical challenges of building the canal, as well as explain how it actually worked" (Chicago Tribune). One even called the multitude of statistics Bernstein cites "staggering." Bottom line: This is a complex story with global implications and not enough pretty pictures, but "Bernstein does it full justice" (Washington Post).

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Edith]

While I am not rating this book, because I didn't finish it, a couple of thoughts:

This man never heard of a technological development which had a downside--the book sounds as if it had been written in the 1950s, rather than the early 21st century--"Progress is Our Most Important Product", etc. You can't take this man seriously.

Furthermore, Mr. Bernstein is a highly repetitious writer. I don't know how many times the water from Lake Erie being dumped into the ocean off Manhattan by Governor Clinton was mentioned. The book, which weighs in at almost 400 pages, could probably have been half the size.

The one good thing about the book is that it got me to buy a biography of Gouverneur Morris.

Very disappointing.

[Shan P S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, meticulously researched book.
The Erie canal was USA's first infrastructure project,and this is a great book to know about the canal. This is also a good book to start understanding the history of New York and the beginning of the American Western expansion. The author has spent a lot of time and effort to distill the history of the Erie canal construction, a process ranging over 250 years. The book has excellent references for further reading and reference.

[Chris Bogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other than knowing its name, I had no idea the impact the Erie Canal had on US and world history before reading this book. One small example… did you know that George Washington was worried the US would split into two countries on opposing sides of the Appalachian mountains? For its time, project was the equivalent of putting a man on the moon in under a decade. Really cool story and makes me think America should be making big bets like this one in the modern era.

[Andy Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While we’ll written and thoroughly researched. The author, in my view, spends more time than necessary on tangents that while relevant to the building of the canal, took too much away from the story of the canal. I often found myself asking, “This book is about building the Erie Canal, right?”

[John Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very interesting on many levels. At the local level it told the story of New York state and it's history and development, but the broader view takes in all of American history. It's not a quick read, but it's time well spent.

[Mark Kloha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Wish it had maps though. The book is about the building of the Erie Canal and DeWitt Clinton. Given that we live near Dewitt which is named after him as is our county, I think it’s important to learn and know this history.

[Dan Flanagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author needs a good editor

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a long time, waterways were the only meaningful passages from one place to another. Roads might do in a pinch, but water was much faster and easier. Canals have been used throughout history to get this fact to work for you when nature had been ungenerous. The Erie Canal is one of the more spectacular successes of these projects, and important in the early history of the United States. Bernstein's Wedding of the Waters is a good popular history of the creation of a 363-mile long canal through upstate New York.

He starts out with lots of background, including the general mechanics of canals, how and why locks work, and various high points in the development of canals, including the Manchester Canal in England, which inspired a lot of further canal building at the time. This section is definitely appreciated, but I wished for more. There's a good map of the canal, and a side elevation of the canal showing how it goes up and down, and where the locks are, but that is it. No general diagrams of a section, or the locks, or illustrations/photographs of some of the more impressive features. And some of it is really hard to picture on your own.

After the introductory parts, Bernstein starts talking about the idea of a canal linking the East Coast with the interior, namely the area across the Alleghenies. The Founding Fathers, and Washington in particular were aware of a need to tie the economy of the area to the east so that there would not be a drift toward independence, or dependence on whoever held the Mississippi. Washington tried a scheme to clear the Potomac towards such a goal, but did not get far. Meanwhile, the fact that there was a practical route across New York to the Great Lakes was becoming more obvious. An initial attempt was to clear the path of the Mohawk River westwards, but the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company soon found it was spending all the money it could raise on trying to keep a relatively short section of riverbed clear. (There was also a Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company to improve conditions between Albany and Lake Champlain, but I can't find any mention of its fate.)

These false starts, thanks to a number of influential people, fail to stop all support for such schemes, but instead focus support on the most ambitious option of all: Building a brand new waterway the entire length of modern New York state. One of the nice parts of the book is the earlier sections talk about the evolution of these ideas through colonial times as well as post-Revolution. Bernstein even talks about the initial exploration of the Hudson (which was part of looking for the fabled Northwest Passage). But of course the later parts get more detail and attention, as they focus on the actual subject of the book.

Bernstein also points out that there was no one in America at the time who could be termed a Civil Engineer, even by the standards of the day. Other than the politicians working for budget appropriations, everyone involved in the project is an amateur. A number of different technical problems are discussed, and some of them were solved by workers on site, and we'll never know who came up with the idea.

There is, of course, a lot of discussion of the politics involved. New York had the most developed political scene of the era in the US, so the infighting was also more developed. First, fighting over the proposal, and if it should be funded, then when things went well, fighting over the credit, and who is in charge. As I have been reading a few other books on the era, there are names who appear elsewhere, especially De Witt Clinton, who was the person who pushed through plans for the canal.

There's also a good amount of material on travel through the area before the canal, and what travel on the canal was like. Finally, there is discussion of the financial implications. The entire motivation for the canal was of course financial, so a good accounting of its effects is essential. Like the technical side of the canal, this is limited by its broad-market aims, and the relative lack of records of the time. There's good discussion of the flow of goods along the canal, and the fact that England started importing food from the Midwest in a major post-Napoleonic economic shift.

Overall, it's an informative book, but I did find it lacking, especially on really showing the physical side of the canal. It left me wanting more, which is often a good thing, but here I really felt I'm wanting things that should have been in the book.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have much of a problem with reading a more traditional (very well researched), Great Man history here. DeWitt Clinton was a great man and he really did see this from start to finish. Also, Bernstein was a financial historian, and - especially in those last two chapters - he turns complex ideas related to the canal's legacy into very engaging text. I learned a tremendous amount over the course of the whole 400 pages.

But - and I hate to be a stick in the mud - I'd argue more social history was needed in the meat of the book. The digging of the canal doesn't start until pg. 200, and there's hardly a mention of the indigenous living in the region before then, and not sufficient examination of the workers and farmers in the chapters that follow. It's hard to tell a complete economic history without more about the people (and not just the politicians, surveyors and various stakeholders).

Bernstein's limited critiques of Clinton could very well apply to his own book. Consider this passage (p. 238): "In a remarkable manner, Clinton's diary of the expedition west in 1810 reveals his lack of a common touch. He seems to be more interested in the life of the birds and the fish he sees than in the personal lives of the farmers he interviews about the cost of their land and the prices they receive for their crops."

There's no reason you can't do both: a more in-depth social history and a celebration of Yankee ingenuity. As an example, the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse has embarked on a "What else is true?" look at its own exhibits. We visited this summer and I was impressed by the deliberate and thoughtful approach.

Here is an excerpt from one of the panels at the very front of the museum: "Empire is not a neutral word. By definition, an empire is a composite political unit founded through conquest and domination. One of the earliest references to New York as the Empire State is found in a letter written by George Washington in 1785 in which he refers to New York as 'the Seat of Empire.' His letter came only six years after the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779. Washington himself planned and ordered this military expedition as an attempt to ethnically cleanse Upstate New York of the Haudenosaunee: the Indigenous on whose land we stand. While this genocide did not erase the Haudenosaunee, it did result in the devastating loss of about half of their population. The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign violently set the stage for the establishment of the Erie Canal in about 40 years' time."

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, providing an overview of the building of the Erie Canal and its effect on the economies of America and the Atlantic. Rather than a concentration on the engineering and technical facets of the Erie Canal, this book instead focuses on the political battles, the various business conflicts of interest which found common ground, and the unique personalities who made the Canal possible. From its initial inklings in Colonial times, to the hard but un-successful campaign for its building begun before the War of 1812, through the actual start of construction during the economic downturn of the late 1810s, and its final completion during the first blooming of American industry in the mid-1820, the book follows the many political twists and economic turns in the building of the Canal. The book ends with a lengthy analysis of the effects of the Canal on New York, America, and the Atlantic world as a whole, needless to say it was immense. I was surprised at the number of firsts the Erie Canal brought to America, not just in the engineering feat that it was, but also in its financing, its method of directorship, and its project management. Of course, the book does a good job of laying out the myths of the Canal and pointing to their varying levels of truthfulness; most surprising to me was how the actual digging was mostly done not by Irish immigrants but by local labor, for whom the Canal represented an escape from the deep recession that existed during most of the building period (New York unknowingly applied Keynesian economics at a favorable time, and it worked, much to Jefferson’s surprise). All in all, a good book about one of the first big public infrastructure projects in US History, a project that succeeded through vicious political infighting due to the single-minded endstate that all shared. A great book for those wanting to know more about early 19th century New York politics.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hit all my buttons as history, as an engineering history about a world class project, about risk (a successful gov't funded project-who knew!), and something I could relate to having lived near the canal for a time. I learned the song "I had a mule" in grade-school but could not figure out why school would teach such an archaic song. This book gave me the answer..the Erie canal changed the country. It was important right up to the time I was born.
The last chapters also gave me a new insight and it has to do with energy. In the 1800s, the industrial revolution was still powered by people in factories (or people in the mines to feed the steam), and the people's energy, i.e., calories, was food. The Erie canal opened up the world to America's first energy boom; in essence, grain on barges was the same as a gas pipeline today. The food that went east down the canal to England and everywhere allowed labor to leave the farm and run the factories. America's GNP grew at its fastest rate after the canal opened up the midwest. Today, America has rediscovered its energy mojo and our GDP is again besting the industrialized world.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wedding of the Waters is fascinating. Author Peter Bernstein has written an exhaustive account of the making of the Erie Canal. From his description of earlier canals, to the politics involved in getting the Erie Canal approved, and on to the actual building and its aftermath, Bernstein leaves nothing out. I found, at times, the quotes from actual people involved in the 19th century were hard to comprehend, due to archaic language and syntax, Bernstein’s words are easily readable and understandable. It was amazing to me to read of how this canal so many believed would never happen, changed the state of New York and indeed, changed the entire of the United States at the time. The economic benefits were extraordinary, and to think how quickly the construction was done and how quickly the cost of it all was recovered is mind-blowing. For anyone interested in this sort of thing, this is must-read.

[Javier Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enticing work about the men and events that shaped the first great public work in U.S. history, author Peter Bernstein focuses entirely too much on the economic implications of the project, seeing it as evidence of the entirely positive benefits of free-trade and globalization (I'm not thoroughly convinced on that score). The book still is engaging due to its compelling and clashing personalities and the incredible feats accomplished by a team of workers and designers who had no engineering experience to speak of and had never worked on a canal to begin with. While it did not focus on the actual construction as I would have liked, the book is nonetheless a good primer to the New York of that time period and of the immense economic (as well as ecological) consequences the canal brought to New York and the North American continent.

[John Szalasny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great review of the waterway that allowed the United States to grow from sea to shining sea. President Washington feared that the Appalachian Mountains would be an impediment that would prevent the country from growing from a coastal commune into the fertile lands of the Midwest. It took the bold step of bypassing untamed land passages with a bi-directional waterway that allowed commerce to skyrocket, allowing the heartlands of America to grow. Clinton's Ditch was built by New York despite lack of Federal financial support, delays due the War of 1812, a national financial depression, and a lot of naysayers in the state government (including future President Martin Van Buren). Although nearly 20 years since its first printing, it's a good read in preparation for the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal in 2025.

[Jeff French]

I can't rate this book because I was unable to finish it because of damage to my copy about 2/3rds of the way through. Up to that point, the book is pretty interesting, although I feel the author goes overboard on the economic impact of the Erie Canal and could spend more time on the actual construction. Of course, that opinion may be because I'm more interested in engineering than economics! The author does neatly explain some of the challenges to building it, as well as the reasons for putting it where it is, but the book needs maps: any book that deals with a geographic topic needs maps to help the reader place the location. But overall, OK, and I may look for another copy once the virus passes and libraries can safely reopen.

[Murray Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I live in Fairport NY, one of the port towns on the canal, I was easily interested in this book. (I also grew up in Spencerport, another port town.)
The book describes the various challenges of building the canal, although it focuses more on the political challenges than the physical ones. In the end, the political story is probably the more interesting one. It is a story full of political maneuvering, personal rivalries, and competition between states.
The overall story also carries a lesson for today’s politics — Bernstein makes it clear that the construction of the Erie Canal succeeded because it was a government operation, whereas various private enterprise efforts had failed.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read. I am planning a summer trip including a boat ride of several days on the Erie Canal. It was a good solid history, and I particularly enjoyed the economic impact discussed.

Unfortunately, I did not note the page number: he calls the Shakers who founded the United Society of Believers in Watervliet, NY Quakers. A common mislabelling but I would not have expected it from someone who is clearly a strong researcher. The community (two people live still as SHakers in Maine) was originally associated with Quakers in England, but were already called Shakers when they settled in Watervliet.

A good read.

[Dave Hoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The previous book, the Erie Canal was a condensed version of this book. 3/4 of book deals with the politics of idea, planning, and financing of connecting Albany N.Y. with Buffalo, or Lake Erie with the Hudson River. While the actual nitty gritty of the digging, labor saving devices thought of by the workers was interesting. It did not take up many pages. Also book told of life along the canal, from the 2nd Great Awakening and Charles Finney , to Joseph Smith, the persecution of Catholics, Mormons, and Masons. The canal opened up markets for the farms. Flour, grain and pork began it's travel to New York city, and to Europe.

[Gerry Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wedding of the Waters is the extraordinary narrative of the construction and impact of the Erie Canal. Written by Peter Bernstein the story begins in 1604 with Henry Hudson who looked for a western water route. By 1825 the canal was completed mostly on time and on budget. It transformed agriculture, commerce and trade and allowed towns nearby like Buffalo, Albany, Rome, Utica, Syracuse and of course New York City to flourish. It’s steady profits financed banks and investments. And it’s almost 400 miles connected the Hudson to the Great Lakes. Visionaries like DeWitt Clinton made it happen and America was never the same.