Focusing on the celebration that marked the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Harness uses words, maps, and pictures to explain the history and commerce of the canal. The book discusses the need for the canal, the politics of its planning and building, the workings of the locks and canals, the pleasure and pride people took in the accomplishment of this engineering feat, and the reasons for its demise.
Full of action and details of human drama, many of the colorful double-page spreads show scenes of jubilation, as town and country folk line the canal for the festive parade of boats headed from Lake Erie down the canal and the Hudson River to the Atlantic Ocean. The illustrations offer a series of intriguing views of nineteenth-century New York State, seen by daylight and by moonlight. An upbeat introduction.
Did you find this review helpful?