Why does benjamin martin eventually join the continental army

Benjamin Martin is a South Carolina planter who is still haunted by his notoriously brutal past as a soldier in the French and Indian War. When the American Revolution comes, he chooses not to fight for the Continental Army because he wants to protect his family.

the completion of the erie canal spurred the first great westward movement of american settlers, gave access to the rich land and resources west of the appalachians and made new york the preeminent commercial city in the united states.