The Rideau Canal is a Canal in Ontario, Canada. Construction began in 1826 and after 6 years of construction, the canal opened in 1832. The canal is an interesting story and the sole reason it was built was because of paranoia.

One of the main reasons of the construction of the canal was the aftermath of the War of 1812. Both the United States and Britian were paranoid and worried that another attack would take place. In result, Britian started a series of making or repairing forts along their Upper Canada and Lower Canada border with the United States. Epically in the St. Lawrence river area. One of those forts was Fort Henry in what is now Kingston, Ontario.

Backround on Kingston, Ontario

When the British king or queen at the time was choosing the capital of the Dominion of Canada, Kingston was a big option. However, the one problem of Kingston was that it was very close to American border. That could be some security issues if a war with America would ever take place and what happened next was a war with America. Now since invasion of Canada was inevitable in the War of 1812, the idea of Kingston of being the capital was squashed. Ottawa later became capital and Kingston remained a fort.

Along with Fort Henry, Britian also made Rideau Canal. This was a long canal from Kingston to Ottawa. The fear was that if the Americans attacked again and captured the St. Lawrence river, the upper and lower Canada supply line would be cut. No trade could happen if boats cant get past the feared American held St. Lawrence river. So in conclusion, the canal construction began. It covers 202km of water in Upper Canada.

The canal also gave many homeless people jobs and money for the future. The unemployed were happy to help as it would spark patriotism and national pride and at the same time help themselves with money and shelter for the time being of the project. However, the job did not look as it seemed. Many reports and testimonies from workers say that condition were bad and any attempt to try to protest but nothing extreme happened. Reports showing dangerous conditions and unfair treatments also appeared.

Many workers and their families lived in nearby towns. However, many others lived on the actual work site. The cabins were made with rough build walls and disgusting conditions. In the camps on site, women were sometimes able to find domestic jobs within the work site camps like housekeeping jobs and cooks.

Many soldiers were also working in the canal. They were offered and grants and free food and supplies if they helped make the canal. Black slaves and citizens were offered land grants and to be freed if they were slaves if they helped to build the canal.

Thank you very much from my sources for making this case study possible.

"Rideau Canal". Wikipedia. March 3, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rideau_Canal . March 6, 2021.