Building Illinois: The Legacy of the Illinois and Michigan Canal
Thesis
The completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which connected the waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, was a turning point in Illinois history because it acted as a catalyst for immigration, economic growth, and population expansion, thereby establishing Chicago as a national trading and commercial city. Despite the obsolescence of the Illinois and Michigan Canal only sixty-six years after its opening, Illinois grew into, and has remained, a prosperous state due to the canal’s major impact.
Video Clip From: Personal Interview with Ana B. Koval, President and CEO of the Canal Corridor Association
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"The Illinois and Michigan Canal is one of the best-kept secrets of American history. Though few know today how important it was, everyone here knew it a century and a half ago. We cannot know Illinois’ history without understanding how the Canal, as a symbol of the continent-straddling ambitions of America, made it possible for a great civilization to arise here."
-The Canal Corridor Association
-The Canal Corridor Association