Editing Toledo War (section)

=== Economic significance ===

The Toledo Strip was (and still is) a commercially important area. Prior to the rise of the [[History of rail transport|railroad]] industry, rivers and [[canal]]s were the major "highways of commerce" in the American Midwest.<ref name = "ohiohistory_Graham_p154">{{harvp|Mendenhall|Graham|1895|p=154}}.</ref> A small but important part of the Strip—the area around present-day Toledo and Maumee Bay—fell within the [[Great Black Swamp]], and this area was nearly impossible to navigate by road, especially after spring and summer rains.<ref name="historicperrysburg.org">{{cite web |url= http://www.historicperrysburg.org/history/swamp.htm |title= The Great Black Swamp |work= Historic Perrysburg |access-date= May 12, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070218032342/http://www.historicperrysburg.org/history/swamp.htm |archive-date= February 18, 2007}}</ref> Draining into Lake Erie, the Maumee River was not necessarily well-suited for large ships, but it did provide an easy connection to Indiana's [[Forts of Fort Wayne, Indiana|Fort Wayne]].<ref name = "ohiohistory_Graham_p154"/> At the time, there were plans to connect the [[Mississippi River]] and the Great Lakes through a series of canals. One such canal system approved by the Ohio legislature in 1825 was the [[Miami and Erie Canal]] that included a connection to the Ohio River and an outflow into Lake Erie via the Maumee River.<ref name="MSU"/>

During the conflict over the Toledo Strip, the [[Erie Canal]] was built, linking [[New York City]] and the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern seaboard]] to the Great Lakes at [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]. The canal finished in 1825, and immediately became a major route for trade and migration. Corn and other farm products (from the Midwest) could be shipped to eastern markets for much less expense than the older route along the Mississippi River. In addition, the migration of settlers to the Midwest increased sharply after the canal was finished, turning Buffalo and other port cities into [[boomtown]]s.<ref name="Meinig1">{{harvp|Meinig|1993|pp=357, 363, 436, and 440}}</ref>

The success of the Erie Canal inspired many other canal projects. Because the western end of Lake Erie offered the shortest overland route to the frontiers of Indiana and [[Illinois]], Maumee Harbor was seen as a site of immediate importance and great value. Detroit was {{convert|20|mi|km}} up the Detroit River from Lake Erie, and faced the difficult barrier of the Great Black Swamp to the south. Because of this, Detroit was less suited to new transportation projects such as canals, and later railroads, than was Toledo. From this perspective on the rapidly developing Midwest of the 1820s and 1830s, both states had much to gain by controlling the land in the Toledo Strip.<ref name="Meinig1"/>

In addition, the Strip west of the Toledo area is good for [[agriculture]], because of its well-drained, fertile [[loam]] soil. The area had for many years produced large amounts of [[maize|corn]] and [[wheat]] per acre.<ref name="historicperrysburg.org"/> Michigan and Ohio both wanted what seemed strategically and economically destined to become an important port and prosperous farmland.<ref name = "ohiohistory_Graham_p154"/>