At as early a date as the close of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Morris had suggested the union of the Great Lakes with the Hudson River, and in 1812 he again advocated it. De Witt Clinton, of New York, one of the most, valuable men of his day, took up the idea, and brought the leading men of his state to lend him their support in pushing it. To dig a canal all the way from Albany to Lake Erie was a pretty formidable undertaking; the State of New York accordingly invited the federal government to assist in the enterprise.
The canal was as desirable on national grounds as on any other, but the proposition met with a rebuff, and the Empire State then resolved to build the canal herself. Surveyors were sent out to locate a line for it, and on July 4, 1817, ground was broken for the canal by De Witt Clinton, who was then governor of the state.

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