Editing DeWitt Clinton (section)

==Erie Canal==
[[File:DeWitt Clinton mingling the waters of Lake Erie with the Atlantic.jpg|right|thumb|Print showing Clinton mingling the waters of Lake Erie and the Atlantic, in a ceremony in 1826 ]]
{{main|Erie Canal}}

From 1810 to 1824, Clinton was a member of the [[Erie Canal Commission]]. He was among its first members, who were appointed in 1810 and planned and surveyed the route to be taken.

As governor, Clinton was largely responsible for the construction of the [[Erie Canal]]. He was persuaded by Canal proponent [[Jesse Hawley (merchant)|Jesse Hawley]] to support construction of a canal from the eastern shore of [[Lake Erie]] to the upper [[Hudson River]]. Many thought the project to be impracticable, and opponents mocked it as "Clinton's Folly" and "DeWitt's Ditch".<ref name="Gordon">[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_23.shtml John Steele Gordon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420194514/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_23.shtml |date=April 20, 2008}} "10 Moments That Made American Business," ''American Heritage'', February/March 2007.</ref> But in 1817, he persuaded the legislature to appropriate $7 million ($168,315,263.16 in 2025 dollars)<ref>https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1817?amount=7000000#:~:text=%247%2C000%2C000%20in%201817%20is%20worth%20%24168%2C315%2C263.16%20today&text=%247%2C000%2C000%20in%201817%20is%20equivalent,cumulative%20price%20increase%20of%202%2C304.50%25.</ref> for its construction.

When the canal was finished in 1825, Clinton opened it and traveled in the packet boat ''Seneca Chief'' along the canal to Buffalo. After riding from the mouth of Lake Erie to New York City, he emptied two casks of water from Lake Erie into [[New York Harbor]] to celebrate the first connection of waters from the East with waters from the West. The canal was an immense success, carrying huge numbers of passengers and a huge amount of freight traffic. The cost of moving freight between Buffalo and Albany fell from $100 to $10 per ton, and the state was able to quickly recoup the funds that it had spent on the project by collecting tolls along the canal. The completion of the canal brought about a significant shift in public opinion about Clinton: he was now hailed for having completed the canal.

That change in public opinion was reflected in the newspapers of the time. They had previously been filled with harsh criticisms of Clinton and the canal, but now celebrated his accomplishment. For example, an article in the ''New Hampshire Sentinel'' began: "The efforts of Gov. Clinton to advance the best interest of the State over which he presides are very generally acknowledged both by his constituents and the public abroad. His exertions in favor of the great canal have identified his name with that noble enterprise, and he will be remembered while its benefits are experienced" It ended, "Yield credit to Clinton, and hail him by name".