The Panama Canal was one of President Theodore Roosevelt's greatest accomplishments. The idea was to connect the two oceans, Atlantic and Pacific, together in the effort to make sea transportation more efficient, allowing for a faster flow of goods between nations. However, this realization of connecting of the two oceans came many years before, as early as the 1500's.
Spain realized that the connection between the two oceans would prove beneficial to their country, and surveyed the land. However, the mountainous terrain and dense jungle proved impossible at the time, and the idea was dropped. Years later, France decided to attempt to create a canal. In 1880, France hired Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt, to lead the project. The attempt was ditched after the incessant rain and the spread of disease made progress almost impossible.
Much later, the U.S. purchased the French assets in the canal for $40 million in 1902. The US recognized the Republic of Panama after provoking a Panamanian independence movement, and on November 18 the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed with Panama. This gave the US ownership of the panama canal zone. In exchange, Panama received $10 million and an annuity of $250,000 beginning nine years later. All of this let construction of the canal to begin. But the Americans realized the french equipment was in terrible condition and did not realize that making a sea level canal was almost impossible.
John Stevens, a railroad specialist, took over the project and ordered new equipment for construction and convinced Theodore Roosevelt that only a lock canal could work in the given circumstance. Roosevelt actually went to visit the canal when everything was going smoothly. However, a few months later, Stevens suddenly resigned, causing a major setback. Roosevelt immediately hired Army Corps engineer Lt. Col. George Washington Goethals, giving him authority over all administrative matters in the building zone. He enforced and crushed labor strikes and made additions to facilities to improve the quality of life for his workers.
There were many dangers involved with working at the Panama canal. It is estimated that 5600 deaths involved with the construction due to unexpected landslides and dynamite explosions. But finally, on August 15, 1914, the canal opened. It was the most expensive construction project in all of American history. Over 3.4 million cubic meters of concrete went into building the locks of the canal and nearly 240 million cubic yards of rock and dirt were excavated during the American construction phase. The impact of the Panama Canal was also immense, where global trading could be done more efficiently as the ships no longer had to go around the tip of South America to get from the pacific ocean to the Atlantic.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/panama-canal
I really liked how you gave background information before the Untied States even touched the idea of the Panama Canal. I never knew Spain and France had set their eyes on it first but never succeeded. I also found it interesting that the head construction worker left before the project was complete. Once can imagine on any normal event this would set people back, but with something at that scale the possible chaos is tangible.You also provided certain statistics like how many deaths the project caused and how much concrete went into it, that might be over looked.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you brought up John Stevens and Goethals, whom I had never heard of. I also had never realized how many resources had gone into this and how many people died in the process of making the canal. Something I found interesting about the workers is that they wore hats that were exported and became known as Panama hats.
ReplyDeleteI found the background about the construction of the Canal very interesting and something I did not heavily consider. Something else I found interesting about the canal was the impact it had on local residents of Panama. following the treaty allowing for the US to build the Canal, tensions already surmounted, as the Panamanians asked for more equitable provisions. Eventually, tensions even led to the exclusion of Panamanian goods from the Canal, a major trade transit. Eventually, these tensions created riots in Panama around 1960, eventually leading to Panama breaking connections to the US.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/panama-canal
I found the history of previous attempts and considerations of building a canal super interesting and it added a nice touch to your post. What particularly interested me was when you said how Roosevelt crushed labor strikes but also improved the quality of life for his workers. How he crushed the labor strikes very much contrasts how he dealt with these problems in other times in his Presidency. This makes me ask why he did so and perhaps it can be an example for an argument that questions Roosevelt's true views and beliefs.
ReplyDelete