About the Author

Carol Sheriff, a native of Bethesda, Maryland, received her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. from Yale University. She is assistant professor of history at the College of William and Mary. Her books include A People at War and A People and a Nation. She lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Reviews

"The Artificial River is deeply researched, its arguments are both subtle and clear, and it is written with grace and an engagingly light touch. The book merits a wide readership." --Paul Johnson, The Journal of American History "A beautifully written and unpretentious book that reveals how little historians have known about something they have written so much about: the Ere Canal." --Richard White, University of Washington "[Sheriff] renders the Erie Canal's history from a fresh point of view . . . the everyday lives of ordinary people who lived along the waterway." --Paul Grondahl, Albany Times Union "Broadly conceived, imaginatively researched, incisively argued, and gracefully written." --Robert H. Wiebe, Northwestern University "An excellent study of an important, all too often neglected period." --Lee Milazzo, The Dallas Morning News

Completed in 1825 and enlarged between 1836 and 1862 at the initial cost of $7 million, the Erie Canal not only created an economic revolution in the region but fostered new and unique communities made up of entrepreneurs, canal workers, and farmers. Utilizing a variety of primary resources, but especially the Canal Board Papers, Sheriff (history, College of William and Mary) relates the social history of those who lived, worked, and traveled the Erie Canal before the Civil War. This previously untold story is laced with accounts by businessmen who saw the canal as opportunity, immigrant laborers looking for steady work, and farmers who transported their produce by canal boat. Although all of these groups relayed their complaints, claims, and concerns to the Canal Board, we do not know the responses they received. Still, the issues raised tell a great deal about the local impact of the Erie Canal, and herein lies the strength of the book. Thoughtful and reflective, this an excellent example of the use of available primary resources in writing history. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.‘Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.

"The Artificial River is deeply researched, its arguments are both subtle and clear, and it is written with grace and an engagingly light touch. The book merits a wide readership." --Paul Johnson, The Journal of American History "A beautifully written and unpretentious book that reveals how little historians have known about something they have written so much about: the Ere Canal." --Richard White, University of Washington "[Sheriff] renders the Erie Canal's history from a fresh point of view . . . the everyday lives of ordinary people who lived along the waterway." --Paul Grondahl, Albany Times Union "Broadly conceived, imaginatively researched, incisively argued, and gracefully written." --Robert H. Wiebe, Northwestern University "An excellent study of an important, all too often neglected period." --Lee Milazzo, The Dallas Morning News