A Traveler Describes Life Along the Erie Canal, 1829

Roughly half of your  Discussion grade (40 points) comes from making an original thread post of at least 300-words. This post should feature your answer to the question(s). It should include at least a thesis statement, and two or three relevant pieces of evidence from the primary source documents to support to support your argument.

You should also cite the documents in your discussion posts (simple in-text citations are fine). I recommend using quotes from the documents as evidecen to help support your point/argument.

For this discussion you need to read: “A Traveler Describes Life Along the Erie Canal, 1829” and  “James Madison Asks Congress to Support Internal Improvements, 1815” in the  American Yawp Reader. Then in your main post you should analyze the two primary source documents by connecting the description of life along the Erie Canal with James Madison’s call for internal improvements. Be sure to discuss how these two documents help you understand how the real the lived experience of historical people during the 1820s related to political policies and technological developments. You will likely want to refer to other topics you have read about in class — such as the Industrial, Market, and Transportation Revolutions as well as debates over the commercial and agricultural futures of America. Finally, it may be worthwhile to contemplate what other primary sources or information you think would help you better understand this period of U.S. history.