The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

There are three primary competing interests among the various parties involved in disputes over the Great Lakes: geopolitical, commercial, and scientific.

Dating back to the time of George Washington, geopolitical interests have always been at play in the desire for a navigable waterway through the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes were not just an optimistic expression of the American Dream to traverse West, but also a political ambition to connect disparate regions of the new country. Creating a shared sense of national identity between regions necessitated creating a streamlined channel for shared goods, services, and recreation. There are also international tensions surrounding the canal due to the shared border around the Great Lakes with Canada; President Eisenhower acknowledged Canada’s power to build its own seaway to allow foreign ships to come close to both countries without the U.S.’s express permission. These geopolitical tensions illustrate the colonizers’ desire for dominion over their natural surroundings to create a sovereign country and the necessity for that sovereign country to be able to defend itself, while simultaneously illustrating the futility of both. Creating the waterway that allowed for national identity and dominance made the U.S. vulnerable to other types of foreign invaders (non-native species)—an interloper much more difficult to identify and suppress.