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The Panama Canal
A brief history
- A French company tries to build a sea-level canal through the Isthmus of Panama (which is about 50 miles wide... or the distance from Dearborn to Toledo, Ohio) during the 1880's. It gets less than half way done, has thousands of employees die due to disease, and runs out of money. The canal project sits idle for over a decade.
- Alfred T. Mahan writes the influential book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History in 1890. The book encourages our government to build up and modernize our fleet of ships, acquire territories in the Carribean and Pacific for defense and trade purposes, and build a canal through Central America so ships could go from one side of the country to the other much faster than going all the way around the southern tip of South America.
- In 1898, the Spanish - American War renewed interest when the U.S. Pacific Fleet had to travel around South America to Cuba. Although it didn't negatively affect the outcome of the war, the U.S. Government realized it was time to get serious about building a canal.
- In mid 1902, Teddy Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress struck a deal with the French company that still owned the rights to the unfinished canal. They purchased everything that was already done and all of the land rights from the French for 40 million dollars (which was a bunch of $$$ at the time).
- In January of 1903, the U.S. negotiated an agreement with Columbia (which controlled the territory of Panama at the time). This agreement granted the United States the right to build a canal zone six miles wide. In return, the United States promised a payment of $10 million and annual payments of $250,000.
- In March of 1903, the Columbians decided they wanted to back out of the deal, which put the continuation of construction on hold. This angered the U.S. Government.
- In the summer of 1903, people close to the U.S. government encouraged newspaper publishers like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer to write newspaper stories (remember yellow journalism?) about the mistreatment of natives of Panama by the Columbians, Panama's plan to rebel, and their willingness to grant the United States sovereignty over the Canal Zone.
- In the fall of 1903, the U.S. government provided a small group of Panamanian rebels with weapons to lead a rebellion. In addition, U.S. businesses that would benefit from a huge construction project like the canal bribed Colombian officials to not put up a fight "or else" Teddy Roosevelt might have to use the force of the U.S. military on Colombia (Big Stick Diplomacy).
- On November 3rd, 1903, the Panamanians launched the rebellion. By the end of that day the rebels had formed a provisional government and unveiled a constitution, one written in New York. The presence of the USS Nashville and the use of bribes allowed a successful revolution. In one day and with only one death, the independent country of Panama was born.
- Two weeks later, the U.S. signed an agreement with the new government very similar to the agreement promised to Colombia back in January of 1903.
- In Febrauary of 1904, the U.S. Government purchased the assets of the New Panama Canal Company for $40 million. The Panamanians received their money and American engineers quickly set to work.
- The canal took a decade to complete. It was a technological marvel, composed of a series of six locks that linked various waterways. If the U.S. would have tried to excavate a channel for a canal all the way down to sea level, it would have taken at least twice as long to complete.
- The construction of the canal was completed with substantial assistance from workers imported from the Caribbean islands and southern United States. These laborers were subject to difficult conditions and many died in the early stages of construction. Eventually, U.S. doctors figured out ways to reduce yellow fever and other tropical diseases which greatly reduced the number of people dying on the job.
- The canal opened for business on August 15th, 1914. The United States now had major new support for its economic and military growth as the water route from New York City to San Francisco shrank from 13,165 miles to 5,300.
Panama Canal History Modern Marvels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LNuRW9t4JA
This video does a really good job explaining the history of the construction of the Panama Canal. Begin the video at the 21 minute and 30 seconds mark and play it until its conclusion (around 27 minutes total). It does have 24 questions that accompany it and will be graded IF I decide to show this during class. A copy of the questions can be found by clicking here if you missed this video during class. You do not need to answer using complete sentences. 1 or 2 word (or number) answers are fine.
Comprehensive History of the Panama Canal
Explaining the Panama Canal Lock System
The Panama Canal Today
This 2 minute clip discusses the expansion of the Canal that was completed in 2016 and its importance today