Transportation
Barely 20 years after opening, the canal could no longer handle larger ships, so it was widened for the first time from 1843 to 1848 as part of a series of large-scale projects ordered by the Colonial Office in London. England hoped these works would curb unemployment and depression caused by the political and economic crises of the previous decade. The government of United Canada coordinated this ambitious program to improve navigation on the St. Lawrence. Along with enlarging the Lachine Canal, the small military canals were replaced by the Beauharnois Canal, the Cornwall and Williamsburg canals were built, and the second Welland Canal was constructed. The undertaking was especially urgent because Americans were gaining a growing share of the Great Lakes market through the Erie Canal.
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