The Chapo Traphouse podcast touched on the Erie Canal in Episode 557 "The Inebriated Past 10: Mormons, pt. 1", especially as the backdrop for the story of Joseph Smith and the creation, of course, of the Mormon church. It's a rousing tale told well beginning around 15 minutes in. The general thrust is that the burst of economic activity that both motivated the creation of and was in part sustained by the Erie Canal extended a tentacle of capitalistic social dislocation which, in part, was a factor in religious revival movements in upstate New York like the Mormons.
I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of this, of course. It could be just some guy yelling on the internet. I just thought it was interesting.
I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of this, of course. It could be just some guy yelling on the internet. I just thought it was interesting.
https://youtu.be/-cMs2BYo9nY?si=1AC8CidLpifN3Mno