pansion of trade and mobility that came with it, produced the opportunity to become independent, or free if you will. Although it was not the same type of freedom an enslaved person sought after, it was freedom from debtors or creditors. One such a person, who sought this type of financial independence, was Mary Ann Archbald. Through the building of the Erie Canal, Archbald and her family were able to sell their surplus of goods (i.e. cloth and wheat) to a greater market. The selling of goods to a broader market proved to be the key to the Archbald familys financial success, for it was not long after the construction of the canal that Archbald was able to boast that she was rich (in the sense that, to her, rich meant out of debt) (Sheriff, p. 13). Much like the Erie Canal helped Archbald gain her freedom from debtors, enslaved peoples sometimes were able to capitalize on the expanding trade economy during the 18th and 19th centuries to gain their freedom. Olaudah Equiano was one such a slave that was lucky enough to be put in a situation where he could trade a few goods here and there, in order to make enough money to buy his freedom from his master. Reflecting on a trading voyage to Montserrat in 1764, Equiano states: I sold my goods well (there); and in this manner I continued trading during the year I worked with double alacrity, from the hope of getting enough money to buy my freedom (Equiano, p. 124). On July 10, 1766, Equiano was successful in purchasing his freedom from his master Robert King for the price of 40 pounds sterling (Equiano, p. 137). Of course progress in mobility and trade did not always favor both free and enslaved. A benefit that came through the building of the Erie Canal, that was limited solely to freemen, was the massive amount of jobs available. For one, the building of the Erie Canal meant a massive demand for laborers to clear forests, shovel dirt, blast rock, and mold the canal bed. With for...
