Inspiration from a Canal

Even more so than Shorto's book, Wedding of the Waters broadened my perspective in ways which seem redundant in retrospect. Simply put, Bernstein's book was so far from anything I would have ever read and the subject matter (compared to Island at the Center of the World, Bernstein's book is much drier and economically-focused), I was a little unsure how to react to the information. I kept feeling some sense of pity, however, for the short-lived glory of the Erie Canal. The work was completed in 1825; Wilbur Wright would make his first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, a mere 78 years after the Canal's opening. Likewise, trans-continental railroads would cross America for the remainder of the 19th century, though Bernstein states that "the Erie Canal inspired the route the very first steam railroad in the United States" (344). I realize that my main reaction was concerned with the transport of people, not goods - I had to laugh at the Van Buren quotation on 197, where he swears, "The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed." Since then, of course, we've sent human beings at mind-melting speeds to outer space.
Ironically, Wedding of the Waters served as a catalyst for my main concerns, which appear hardly relevant to the Erie Canal, though I think they are valid: when did wanderlust become a legitimate psychological phenomenon if transportation was so slow and difficult (Wikipedia states the word entered English dictionaries as recently as 1902), when did America begin using asphalt and pavement to form roads, if the Interstate Highway System is only a development of the past 75 years how did people get around before? When did water transportation become so clearly divided between the leisurely (cruises, tours, sailing, our trip on Wednesday) and the industrial (barges, fishing boats, etc.) - no one takes a boat across the ocean anymore.
Likewise, it seems The Erie Canal's greatest achievement was not in and of itself, but rather as a symbol and ideal for other seemingly-insane projects, be they transportation/water-related or not. This is not to dismiss the hard efforts of those who planned and created The Erie Canal; but rather a deepending of the Canal's importance, since it affected much more beyond the scope of the Hudson River.