Seneca Falls and the Erie Canal

     Today was a whirlwind tour through upstate New York.  We were constantly on the move, but it was well worth our time.  So much history – so little time.  Seneca Falls was an interesting stop.  I think we all know about the women’s rights movement, but I wonder if we give it its historical due.  The Women’s Rights Museum was nice.  I like the displays, especially the ones comparing jobs and wages for men and women.  You made a career choice and the board instantly displayed the information.  The museum was a snapshot, or maybe a better word is collage, of the women’s rights movement that traces its origins to Seneca Falls and the Declaration of Sentiments.

     I found it very interesting that Mary M’Clintock was a co-author of the document, but she has been mostly lost in time.  I teach about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott, but I am guilty of never mentioning Mary.  As our guide informed us, Mary and Elizabeth co-wrote the Declaration of Sentiments in Mary’s home.  Perhaps this oversight is due to the fact that Elizabeth and Susan carry the banner of the movement following the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.  This is an oversight I can easily fix in my classroom.  I do have my students read the Declaration of Sentiments and we make the obvious connection to the Declaration of Independence.  I have also used “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth at times as a focal point for both abolition and women’s rights.  We discuss how women became involved in other movements in order to gain a voice for the women’s rights movement.  Our guide gave us a great example of this when she told us about Stanton and others going to London for an abolitionist conference and being told they could not participate because they were women.  It was a difficult struggle.  Following the museum, we proceeded to the Stanton home, which was quite modest and then on to the slightly more upscale M’Clintock home.  Today I walked away with a better “feel” for the events of Seneca Falls.

  

  

     Off to the home of William Seward.  Seward is best known for being the Secretary of State that negotiated the purchase of Alaska.  The home was quite impressive in both size and historical scope.  It was like entering a museum (which technically it is now).  It was full of original Seward artifacts and possessions.  Mark and I talked about how Presidential it looked.  One could certainly tell that he was a person of some importance.  The people he knew and entertained would fill a historical who’s who volume.  An interesting comparison for students would be Seward and Daniel Webster.  Both were leading politicians of their age with presidential aspirations.  Both were influential Senators and Secretaries of State, yet both falling short of the dream of the White House.  Yet, both men make huge contributions to American politics.  To sum up our visit to the Seward home – nice shack.  It would be interesting to study the history of Auburn, New York as I noticed several “nice shacks” throughout the town.

We made an abbreviated stop at the home of Harriet Tubman, one of the most famous women of the time.  She was an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate.  Our stop here was too much talk and not enough house, but that was due to the circumstances.

     Our tour continued through the Burned Out District of New York and its Second Great Awakening fame.  We were in the vicinity of Charles Gradison Finney, Henry Beecher and Joseph Smith.  Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church, one of today’s fastest growing churches.  I teach the Second Great Awakening, so I can use today’s tidbits in class, especially since the Mormon Church has a significant presence in the San Luis Valley and the Western Slope of Colorado.

     Our day ended with a cruise on the Erie Canal.  This was a very nice stop.  It was historical, informative and relaxing.  I teach about the canal, so it was nice to actually be on it.  Going through the lock was an interesting experience.  Our boat was raised twenty-five feet in five minutes using 2.7 million gallons of water.  It was impressive.  The canal system built in the 19^th century was much more extensive than people believe.  Using the canal system, the people of New York City can be connected to the Great Lakes and then the Mississippi River system and the city of New Orleans.  The central part of our country can be linked to the Atlantic.  It was interesting to find out that they drain the canal to a level of two feet in the winter.  The canal is an engineering triumph, made more spectacular with the realization that it was a pick and shovel venture using mostly Irish and German immigrant labor.  I explain to my students that today’s equivalent would be digging a ditch forty feet wide and ten feet deep from Fountain to Albuquerque, New Mexico and figuring how to go over Raton Pass.  The pictures I took will help explain the lock system as my drawing leaves a lot to be desired.

  

     I was struck by how the landscape in upstate changed.  This part of the state is much flatter than the regions we saw yesterday.  It helps explain why the Erie Canal was built in this part of the state.  It was a good historical day. I got a lot of information that can be incorporated into my classroom.  We ended the day ay Bill Wahl’s Microcreamery for ice cream.  BW’s is the home of the periodic chart of ice cream.  See Wendy’s shirt.

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