1. Name: _____________________________________
Date: ______________________________________
Do Now:
Letter from Henry Van Patten.
Henry Van Patten was angry. The Canal ran right through his farm, dividing
his fields and making it much harder for him to plant and harvest his crops
so he built a bridge across the Canal to reach his fields.
He wanted the State of New York to pay him back for the money he spent
on the bridge. He also wanted money for his well, which was destroyed by
the Canal.
What did Henry say?
"To the Canalboard of the State of New York
The petition of the subscriber showist that he has been underthe necessity of
erecting a Bridgeacross the Erie Canalnearly opposite to his house in
order to enable him to have access to his land on the other side of the Canal
opposite to his lands. If this bridge had not been erected he would have been
compelled to have traveled nearly one half mile to cross the Canalthis
Bridgehas cost your petitioner $128.00 which hehopes the Canal
Commissioners to pay him. The subscriber had his well destroyed by The
Canalwhich rendered it necessary to conduct the water in logs from a
spring for which he has expended $130.00toward, which hehas received
$100.
Rotterdam, SchenectadyFeb 11, 1829. HenryVan Patten"
1. Who is Henry Van Patten writing to?
_____________________________________________________________
2. Why did Henry Van Patten need to build a bridge across the Erie Canal?
_____________________________________________________________
3. What does Henry Van Patten say the Canal destroyed?
_____________________________________________________________
4. Based on the information in this letter, do you think Henry Van Patten is
happy about the Erie Canal. Why?
_____________________________________________________________

2. New York Canal Lands On Sale, Broadside.
This broadside(poster) was printed to advertise land for sale in north-central
New York. Business people, called land speculators, bought large amounts
of land and then tried to sell it to new settlers for a profit. Sometimes they
were honest, and sometimes they were dishonest.
For example, sometimes they would say that land was near the Canal even
when it wasn't! Owning land near the Canal could mean easy transportation
for farm goods to town and city markets, resulting in more money for
farmers.
What did the broadside say?
THE unsold part of that extensive tract bounded on the East end of Lake
Ontario, extending North from the mouth of Salmon River, to the Towns of
Henderson and Adams, watered by the Big Sandy and Little Sandy Creeks,
and their innumerable tributary streams; every part of the tract being within
one day's easy drive of the Erie Canal, at the Village of Rome, and at Salt
Point or Salina, and will be accessible to it by water, (from the outlets on the
Lake) as soonas it shall be united to the Lake at Oswego, which it is
supposed it will be in two years…
The present price (the choice as to quality allowed to the purchaser) is from
two dollars fifty cents, to three, four, and five Dollars per acre, according to
situation. The lowest rates are for Lands most distant from the Lake, and the
Villages, which as they recede to the east, beyond the alluvial lands,
gradually become more swelly and elevated; every part, however, is
susceptible of cultivation, there not being a mountain or considerable hill on
the tract.
1. What is a broadside?
_____________________________________________________________
2. What is the broadside advertising?
_____________________________________________________________
3. Why might people want to buy land near the Erie Canal?
_____________________________________________________________
4. Was it possiblefor you to buy bad land?
_____________________________________________________________