"The committee of the president and directors of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company [in Delaware] . . . beg leave respectfully to offer to the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, the following facts and observations relative to the said canal. . . .". . . The island of Great Britain furnishes proof of the advantages of canals, beyond any other country. That nation has now become the maritime rival, and almost controller of every commercial people; her superiority has arisen from her unbounded commerce, and the vast wealth it has introduced, the basis of which wealth is her immense manufactures . . . : the foundation of these manufactures has again been formed by her internal improvements. . . ."The United States, both from their present political and natural situation, demand from their government every aid it can furnish. . . . Her rapid increase in prosperity, has already drawn upon her the envy, the jealousy, and the hostility of other nations, which alone can be counteracted by improving her internal strength, supplying her wants as far as possible by her own [products] and manufactures, and extending her agriculture so as to gain from its surplus the wealth of other nations."The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company, petition to the United States Congress, 1809At the time the petition was produced, Congress most likely interpreted the petition's purpose asA. requesting federal funding for transportation construction projectsB. rallying support to end commercial relations with Great BritainC. encouraging White settlers to use canals to migrate to new statesD. promoting the development of agriculture at the expense of industry

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