Schenectady, New York a route through the pine barrens between them. Developers in Schenectady quickly founded the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, chartered in 1833; Schenectady & Susquehanna Railroad, chartered May 5, 1836; and Schenectady & Troy Railroad, chartered in 1836, making Schenectady "the rail hub of America at the time" and competing with the Erie Canal. Commodities from the Great Lakes areas and commercial products were shipped to the East and New York City through the Mohawk Valley and Schenectady. The last slaves in New York and this city gained freedom in 1827, under the state's gradual abolition law. The law first gave
Great Lakes Charter an Annex to the Great Lakes Charter. This led to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement of 2005 and the Great Lakes Compact which became effective in 2008. The Council of Great Lakes Governors serves as secretariat to the Governors' and Premiers' Regional Body created by the Agreement and the Governors' Compact Council created by the Compact. Great Lakes Charter The Great Lakes Charter is a good-faith agreement among the Governors of the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the Premiers of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and