As the United States expanded into western New York and the Northwest Territory, the Great Lakes became an essential part of the system of waterways, on which merchants did most of their shipping.
When he found his company in financial trouble, he drew upon the idea first proposed by Joshua Forman (member of the New York State Assembly from Onondaga County in 1808) of building a canal, rather than trying to navigate the rivers.
In order to get permission for this commission, Platt and Eddy knew that each man had to command a certain amount of power and respect, but the whole group had to be politically balanced between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.
On March 13, 1810, Platt presented his project for a bipartisan Canal Commission to the State Legislature, and received overwhelming support.
All of the members except Van Rensselaer and Morris, who traversed the whole state by carriage, traveled up the Mohawk River and as far west as possible by water, where they met two amateur surveyors, James Geddes and Benjamin Wright.
On June 19, 1812, the Commission was empowered to purchase the rights, interests and estate of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company.
The largest duty, however, was assigned to Clinton and Morris, who went to Washington, D.C., to solicit aid from President James Madison and the Federal Government.
In addition, despite allowing the Commission to create a fund for financing the canal in 1812, the State Legislature repealed the act in 1814, rendering the commissioners essentially helpless.
Finally, after the United States made peace with Great Britain, officials could turn their attention towards the canal, which they did in a public meeting in New York City on December 3, 1815.
Even though President Madison vetoed a bill that provided funding for one quarter of the canal, the Commission convinced the State Legislature to go ahead with construction.
The project was soon caught up in politics, with either party attempting to receive the credit for the construction; the Bucktails struggled to gain control over the Commission, still firmly held by Clinton in 1817.
In 1818, Ellicot resigned from the Commission citing poor health, and to replace him, Clinton appointed one of his strongest supporters Ephraim Hart.
The Commission slipped even further out of Clinton’s control in 1821, when the Bucktail-controlled State Legislature passed a bill that provided two million dollars in funding for the canal, as well as the appointment of an additional commissioner.
A wave of indignation over the treatment of the man who was recognized as the driving force behind the construction, Clinton was re-elected Governor of New York in November 1824, and had the great satisfaction to preside over the inauguration of the completed Erie Canal on October 26, 1825.