Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal and the American Empire

by Gerard Koeppel

Overview

In this elegantly written and far-reaching narrative, acclaimed author Gerard Koeppel tells the astonishing story of the creation of the Erie Canal and the memorable characters who turned a visionary plan into a successful venture. Koeppel's long years of research fill the pages with new findings about the construction of the canal and its enormous impact, providing a unique perspective on America's self perception as an empire destined to expand to the Pacific.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306818622
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	03/09/2010
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	270,398
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Gerard Koeppel is the author of Water for Gotham, Bond of Union, and City on a Grid. He has contributed to numerous other books, including the Encyclopedia of New York City, of which he was an associate editor. He was an editor for many years at CBS News. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

1 An American Ambition 1

2 The Wilderness Years 13

3 "The Effusions of a Maniac" 39

4 Apollo Rising 65

5 Erie Rise and Fall 77

6 The Cause Uncrowned 111

7 "The Most Gigantic Undertaking" 153

8 Laying the Groundwork 193

9 Securing the Middle 223

10 Eastward Ho! 269

11 How the West Was Won 317

12 Ten Days That Shook New York 365

13 "The Shadowy Remembrance" 387

Notes 399

Bibliography 429

Acknowledgments 441

Index 443

Editorial Reviews

"Booklist," 3/1/09
"[The Erie Canal's] economic impact--vaulting NYC over Philadelphia as the commercial capital of the U.S.--was ably recounted by business historian Peter Bernstein in Wedding of the Waters (2005); Koeppel adds greater emphasis in his narrative to the constellation of promoters and politicians who brought the canal into existence...[A] lively account."

From the Publisher

Koeppel (Water for Gotham) cites two main reasons for writing another book on the Erie Canal: to disabuse readers of false notions that have gained acceptance through repetition and to highlight previously underplayed personalities. He underlines the significance of Jesse Hawley, whose newspaper essays under the pseudonym "Hercules" conceived of and promoted the canal, and Andrew Bartow, the overlooked developer of hydraulic cement, which can harden properly under water. We learn that canal surveyor Joseph Elliott standardized the foot as a national measurement, that a faction sought an Ontario Canal rather than one leading to Lake Erie, and that Buffalo's selection as the western terminus helped revive that city after its destruction during the War of 1812. Koeppel highlights the role of the canal engineers and notes the high death toll among the workers and surveyors, and he reminds readers of the canal's importance in transporting people as well as goods. This lucid and colorfully written narrative is recommended for libraries that do not already have Peter L. Bernstein's Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation or that want to expand their holdings in 19th-century technological and New York State history.
—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Library Journal

A comprehensive history of the building of the Erie Canal. Author of Water for Gotham: A History (2000) and a contributor to Water-Works: The Architecture and Engineering of the New York City Water Supply (2006), former CBS News editor Koeppel continues to explore the subject of the Big Apple's crucial connections to its waterways. The commitment to extensive research he brought to previous works is evident here as he ably tells the story of the many strong-willed visionaries who helped bring the Erie Canal into being. Chief among them was frontier merchant Jesse Hawley, who in 1807 wrote a series of essays from debtor's prison expounding on his dream of an overland waterway. Possessing little education and no engineering background, Hawley studied books and maps to craft a plan for a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Hudson River. His essays caught the attention of many prominent New Yorkers, including surveyor and city planner Joseph Ellicott, influential businessman Elkanah Watson and Gov. De Witt Clinton, who began to argue forcefully, in the face of widespread skepticism, for the building of the canal. Koeppel details the political twists and turns that surrounded the conceptualizing, funding, engineering and building of the Erie Canal. Finally completed in 1825, it was the first major link between the seaboard states and the landlocked interior. It proved an unmitigated boon for merchants, and the author convincingly argues that the canal hastened the birth of America as a continental nation. At times, the level of detail can be daunting-the author spends several pages expounding on a controversy about a patent for waterproof cement, for example-but there is little doubt Koeppel'shistory is the most complete and well-researched to date. Authoritative and important. Agent: Russell Galen/Scovil Ghosh Galen Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews