The Panama Canal : The Importance Of The Panama Canal

The astounding achievement of building the Panama Canal did not come without great loss. Within great achievement and betterment of the world, sometimes comes great tragedy. Great change also doesn’t happen without a strong fight. The workers who helped build the canal knew what they were up against. They knew that famine, disease, dangerous jobs, and a great deal of loss of human life laid ahead, but these workers were willing to sacrifice everything to see this canal built. They knew the economic implications of having a canal like this. They wanted to make their personal country’s economy better environments for their wives and children to thrive in and make a better life for their ancestors. This could be done with the money they made working on the canal, as well as how their own children would live in more stable economies in their home countries because of the canal. They were willing to fight for the great change that eventually ensued.

The events regarding the Panama Canal as discussed in David McCullough’s The Path Between Seas allowed an impressive assertion of American power--the likes of which had never before been displayed.  In it’s rich history, this novel offers recollections of failure on France’s part, American strength overcoming Columbian resistance, and triumphant success of medical care and engineering.

The United States began as an isolated country, only focusing on the matters going on within the nation. Overseas expansion, military strength, and the practice of Social Darwinism later became an interest to the nation’s development. Because there was a want for power, wealth and missionary zeal, the United States became an imperialistic country. As a result the construction of the Panama Canal became an important project to begin. Despite all the difficulties it faced during the process, the Panama Canal was completed and gave the nation great power.

The Erie Canal has been praised for years as a well-known legendary waterway around the world (Larkin 1998). The canal has been termed as “the greatest public work undertaken by a free society solely for the benefit of its people…the undertaking was a prodigious one” (Edmonds 1960, p. 1). After opening in 1825, the Erie Canal was named the “longest canal in the world” and opened the West to become a globalized nation, brought affluence to New York State as well as establishing New York City as a shipping port (Wyld 1986). It can be argued that the

It is interesting to see how Americans saw themselves and their capitalistic system during the early 1900s. The American quest to civilize the world with plans like the Panama Canal was referred to as a gift, a selfless act from the United States for the betterment of mankind (Herring 2008, 337). I am certain that the Panama Canal created many opportunities for the people in Central America, but was it in fact a sign of American kindness or was that canal done because it increased trade, income, and improved security in the United States? Furthermore, how wrong was Norman Angell? His theory did not hold for more than four years. Mankind is incapable of achieving peace and will continue to live in a constant state of struggle. Additionally, the early 1900s had a resemblance to the Cold War that started four decades later. The Russians and the British encircled Germany and contained her, and yet Stalin was surprise when the allies did the same to him after WWII?

Before the 1900s, in order to get from the Atlantic ocean to the pacific ocean, you had to go around South America then all the way up again to reach your destination. Everyone was getting tired of going the long way, until a French company that was lead by Ferdinand de Lesseps came up with the idea of making a canal through Panama. However, the French ended failing because of the obstacles that came their way. Later on the U.S. wanted to continue building the canal, plus they had more to gain from this canal. They got the permission to build a canal through Panama and began working. Of course many obstacles were faced, but finally on August 15, 1914, the canal was completed. Everyone was saying that the Panama Canal would change the face of

The United States built the Panama Canal. The canal was a fifty-mile-long passage that created a shortcut for ships. It cut through the Central American nation of Panama and linked the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. “It was an incredible project, the largest public construction project in US history. The engineering, technical, medical, and scientific challenges were incredible, first having to get disease under control and then figure out whether it should be a sea-level or a lock canal. It was forty miles long and literally cut through the continental divide, so it was extremely difficult” (Greene). The construction of the Panama Canal strengthened the economic dominance, and the rise of the United States naval power in the Western Hemisphere, accomplishing a long-awaited dream to create a route that allowed ships to move easily between the two great oceans.

Known as one of the greatest engineering feats in all of history, the Panama Canal is an essential asset for international trade and travel today, uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Central American Isthmus in Panama, Colombia. Its construction required the perseverance, innovation, time and money of at first, France and of second, America. Construction began with Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps at the helm of the project in the early 1880’s; however, dreams of a Central American canal were had as early as the 1500’s with the Spanish and Christopher Columbus. His plan was to dig a sea level canal, similar to a successful one he had made previously. But after nearly 8 years of futile labor, and lack of progress, Lesseps

In order to get to the Pacific Ocean from the east coast of the United States you must either, go around Canada, go around South America, or go all the way around the world. These were the only ways to get to the Pacific from the Atlantic Ocean until 1914. The most common way the American navy would get there was around South America. In many instances when there was problems on the west or east coast that needed naval intervention it took a significant amount of time for the navy to reinforce them. This could end up being a serious problem for the United States if there was any large scale problem on the west or east coast that involved the navy, it could take a detrimental amount of time for the reinforcements to arrive. They needed a way to connect the two seas so that it could help them to reduce the time necessary to get from one coast to another and so that other ships could get access to both seas without much trouble. The creation of the Panama Canal was the most efficient and effective way to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

In 1880, the French were the first group of people who tried to build Panama Canal, with no such luck, Within 9 years, hardly and progress had been made, and with 20,000 dead, it seemed like a lost cause, and all hope was lost for the French. Though this was a major setback for the French, this was an opportunity for the Americans, and mainly Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy had also thought that the Canal would be an incredible project to undertake, with many great advantages for the United States. IN 1902, the government agreed with the idea, and gave permission for excavation to start. But before they could even start digging, they needed to buy the land off of Panama, who was then controlled by Columbia. Finally after a long debate between American

The Panama canal is an advanced canal for the time it was built. First of all the canal works as a lock system. The lock system can raise a ship up and down. Therefor the railroad system, was an extreme help to many people. The railroad system assisted in moving all the dirt and rock away from where they were building the canal. Building the canal employed people as workers to construct the Panama canal.

The United States and Great Britain had been talking a way to ship goods a quicker and cheaper way between the Atlantic and Pacific coast. The United States were making their mind between putting the canal in Nicaragua and Panama. In 1850 the United States and Great Britain were negotiating a act named the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and proposed a canal through the Central American Republic of Nicaragua. There was a treaty named The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901 which abrogated the treaty of 1850 named Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and gave the United States the rights of building and managing their own canal. But also The United States was thinking in Panama.

The reason for the United States building the canal, was to prepare to go to war with Spain. The USS was ordered to leave California to head towards Cuba, but they realized that this trip would take 60 days and they would have to stop in South America numerous times for coal, before they would reach Cuba. After that, the U.S. knew that there had to be a route to take so they built the Panama Canal. Originally, the French started the Panama Canal in 1881, but they went bankrupt, so the United States agreed to pay for the costs and take up the construction. Columbia denied the United States the right to take over, which caused a revolt with the Panamanians. The Panamanians received their independence, which granted

The Panama Canal was originally started back in the 1880s by the French and is considered by some to be the 8th Wonder of the World. Even though Construction started in the 18802 for the canal, the idea for such a canal started long before that time. The need for a canal through Central America started to surface in the 1500s when surveying for a canal to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans began. Trade and travel were very inconvenient at the time before a canal and sparked the craving for a canal to be built. Ships would have to travel all the way around the southern tip of South America to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans before the Panama Canal’s existence. The French were the first to try and build a canal between the

The canal was the best thing that ever happened to Panama. The Panama Canal was started under President Roosevelt and completed by his successor, William Howard Taft. The canal was built across an isthmus, a narrow body of land that connects two larger land areas, which connects North and South America. In some places in Panama the isthmus is only 50 miles across. The French started the canal in the late 1800’s. They had just built the then famous Suez Canal with relative ease. The Suez Canal, unlike the Panama Canal, was a straight canal on level ground, in a relatively dry climate. The French had failed in building the Panama Canal because of the tropical climate, in which deadly tropical diseases consumed their