The Erie Canal and its Influence on Religious and Social Reform Movements in the Burned Over District
Abstract:
The Erie Canal was constructed with economic goals in mind. The artificial waterway was a success on that front but also had unintended consequences. The canal also led to what was known as the “Burned-Over District,” the area surrounding the canal which had a propensity for religious revivals, experiments, and reform movements. The first reason for this is the economic prosperity that the canal brought which allowed the people of the region to focus on religious revivals and reform movements. Another reason would be the separation of the working-class from the middle-class with industrialization which created a divide between the two classes. Finally, the canal showed that American exceptionalism was something that could be achieved. The idea of progress that the canal brought to the area, as from DeWitt Clinton and others campaigns for the canal, was then applied to other areas of society including religion and secular movements like temperance and Women’s Suffrage.