AHC: Earliest Erie Canal

Your challenge is to have the Erie canal built earlier. Bonus points for having it built before the Revolution. Keep in mind that the cost was roughly $7 million at the time. For reference, each of the 13 states averaged just under $9 million in expenses per state, in the Revolution (not counting federal expenses).
 
Success of earlier New York canals would have sped up construction. Apparently the failure of the Western Inland Lock Company was a major point against the construction and investment in newer canals. I think if they were successful you might be able to speed up construction by a decade. There's an interesting paper from 1906 on the history of the NY canal system. http://www.eriecanal.org/texts/Whitford/1906/Chap01.html

I think the most important quote is this:

"The operations of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, however laudable for good intentions, were unfortunately calculated to dampen the zeal for internal navigation and to arrest its progress. The most popular and the strongest argument urged against the great system of Canal policy, was the failure of their attempts; and it may be truly said, that if that association had never had a being, the most serious obstacles which have been thrown in the way of our present measures would have never existed."
 
You are reallygoing to need a far greater number of settlers moving into the Ohio region than might of been there pre 1820. Pre ARW you need a complete change of policy by Great Britian in regards to settlement west of the mountians. Personally I don't think that GB gave a damn about the native peoples. They just didnt want the burden of defending settlements .
 
I can't see significant investment in infrastructure until after the Revolutionary War is over (consider development of manufacturies after Britain's economic controls and restrictions ended).

Possibly sometime in the 1790s, but earlier is very unlikely.
 
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