The impact of the northeastern canal system to the impact of pre-civil war railroad development was of the surmount importance for the economy of the U.S. at different times. With its ups and downs, the canal system and the railroad development impacted the lives of people, companies, and regions of America.
The first canal system tried to connect the interior from the coast. The first corridor went from Montreal and along the St. Lawrence River to Lake Erie, through the Lachine Canal in 1825 and the Welland Canal in 1829. The second was the Erie Canal system, finished in 1825 and so extense that connected Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo.
Meanwhile, railroads increased the economic development in the 19th century. The system linked the nation with the construction of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. Railroad development helped with a better mobility, shortened distances and increase the speed of trips, giving birth to a better economy.