Thesis Statement For The Panama Canal

One of Roosevelt’s biggest accomplishments was constructing the Panama Canal. A canal meant a huge business boon to the United States, and also meant they could control the flow of goods and services between the hemispheres. The Panama Canal helped the import and export of goods, which in turn created jobs for people. All

For centuries, the idea of how to access the West Indies puzzled many sailors from across the globe. During colonial times, Europeans coveted the spices and goods found in Asian countries, but the inability of their sponsored expeditions to discover a time-saving western passageway hindered their interaction with this region of the world. As time progressed, nations began to find ways to trade with Asia, but the routes taken were long, expensive, and hazardous. According to an article found in the publication, Civil Engineering, “… the only way for a ship to travel between the oceans was via the Strait of Magellan, at the southern tip of South America, a dangerous and time-consuming route.” However, in nineteen fourteen, their struggles finally ended. At last, the completion of the Panama Canal provided a shorter sea route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean for trading countries all over the world. This occasion revolutionized sea travel and was consequently a widely documented and publicized event. Countless images and articles were created throughout the early twentieth century, which magnified the importance of this project. This collection of primary sources captures the significance of the Panama Canal for the American people and the international community at that time. The synchronic analysis of such documents will foster a greater appreciation for the Panama Canal and the influence it has had on civilization since its inception.

This was Theodore Roosevelt's first act as president. The Panama Canal was a project that would have a canal built to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean and be used in international trading. The British and the French have both thought about and attempted this before and now the United States would try. The canal was supposed to travel through the Nicaragua, but Roosevelt wanted the canal to travel across the Isthmus Mountains because he thought the larger ships would not fit through the Nicaragua. So, he attempted to sign a treaty with Columbia but was rejected by the Colombian senate. Roosevelt decided to plan with Philippe Bunau-Varilla who represented the French Panama Canal Company. His plan was to have panama revolt against columbia. On November 3, 1903 the revolution was announced and now considered panama independent. Roosevelt was able to get the treaty signed by Panama on November 18 that would allow the United States to build the canal. “When it was completed in 1913 at a cost of $387 million, the canal represented one of the most expensive construction projects ever undertaken” (Linn, Charles). Although the canal was not finished until 1913, Theodore Roosevelt still considered it the greatest achievement of his

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.

Assuredly the Panama Canal, If you didn’t know already, was one of the most economic and socialized marvels of its time. It was, at first, attempted by the French in the late 1800s, but they were unable to carry out the canal because of financial problems. Not only that, but yellow fever and malaria flooded the campgrounds with the aid of mosquitoes, which made the workforce unbalanced (Avery). Then in 1904, the Americans were to take over under the leadership and guidance of President Theodore Roosevelt. Even then Americans had a difficult time with construction. Moreover, with the canal built, it’s more sufficient then sailing around the tip of South America. Even today, the canal is used several times a day to bring

During the year of 1845 a modern day marvel was completed. This feat of modern engineering allowed people and goods alike to travel from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River on a moderately quick and cost effective route. To be completely specific the name of this route would later be known as the Miami Erie Canal. Notably, the canal is known for being the driving force behind the economy and growth in the majority of small towns along the canal. For this reason the canal should be celebrated for its contributions to the development of northwest Ohio.

The workers started off by creating a railroad to cross over and deliver items/tools for the workers to use, while building the canal. They have to dig through the jungle and flatten out land. Once they were done with that they would dig and make river and stream holes. The workers would blow up the land connection to the river/stream hole to the ocean. That is so the water could get through the continent. Most of the workers came from African Areas or South America Areas. TNT (the bomb) was the object the workers would use to blow up the river/stream hold to the ocean.

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?

Also, the Panama Canal was very different compared to other events or inventions that happened in history. While in the making of the Panama Canal, it was the first time that the President had left the country. President Roosevelt was the first to leave the United States, while in office to go to Panama and to see how the canal was going. Then, it was also the first time that a lock canal was ever attempted to be made. To be able to pass the mountains of culebra they had to build a lock canal. In addition, there was also a bloodless revolution when Panama was gaining its independence from

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.

However, the reason why so many workers had died was confounding to the French. Why had disease struck so profoundly? Thanks to Walter Reed, the answer was discovered. Walter Reed was an American Physician whose contributions to medical science were astounding. He is the youngest man to ever have earned a MD at University of Virginia at age 19. It was he who led the research team in discovering the cause of Yellow Fever. His research was risky though, experiments had to be done on human volunteers. In that, he had to deliberately infect humans to test the strain of disease. Speculative, as it may have been his research produced results in the end. He and his team were able to conclude that the Yellow Fever was not spread through the people infected with it, but by disease carrying mosquitoes. His discovery not only allowed the United Sates to resume construction of the Panama Canal, it also gave start to new fields in medical science such as: epidemiology and biomedicine. In appreciation of his work, he

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.

The Panama Canal in my opinion one of the greatest man made canal in the history of the world. The french attempted to make the canal but failed. In the year 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt pressured Columbia to declare Panama independent. Theodore did not care about the panamanians he cared about the land. Panama is an isthmus, an isthmus is a piece of land connecting two large land masses such as North and South America. People have been dreaming of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean for hundreds of years. John Findley Wallace resigned so President Theodore gave the job to someone else John Frank Stevens. Stevens had an idea instead of digging out the mountain they would build steps to get over it. They used railroads to move dirt, supplies, and machines. It took a while, however they used dams to block water, made artificial lakes so the boats could get across, gravity to fill the locks, and make locks. Locks are like steps, you fill it with water, open up the gates and keep getting higher.

To illustrate, in 1520, the Spanish attempted studies to decide the possibility of constructing a canal through Panama as a result of the plains and perils of the Camino Real, which was the main route that Spaniards used to transport treasures from the west coast of South America to the Atlantic coast to wait for their trip back to Spain (Meditz & Hanratty, 1989).

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