The Panama Canal
(Social)
What is it?
The Panama Canal is 48 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. At first the French wanted to build a canal to connect America and Europe and they decided to build the canal in 1881. The demands for trade were up and ships trading from Europe had to go all around South America to get to their destination which wasted a lot of time. The Panama Canal was going to cost a lot to build but the money would be given back. So when the canal first started to be built the workers were black or Indian labors and the conditions they went through were horrible. There was a lot of mud, water, and hard work ahead. The idea was to build a dam. However the natural weather caused many deaths in the process of building the Panama canal. Also many people became ill with infected mosquitoes and other disease. Over time the disease caused by the mosquitoes was responsible for many deaths. However the French did not care about their workers dying, they only cared about building the canal. In the end the French had to give up building the Panama Canal because it cost too much and was too much work. Roosevelt jumped into the situation and said that America was going to build the Panama Canal. From the past everyone thought that having the United States build the canal was a scandal. Due to the canals great location for a trade route the American government would do anything to gain control of the Panama Canal. The Columbia and the U.S. fought over the land shortly until the nation Panama was born. The U.S. planned on making profit from their investments. When the U.S. started building the canal they were unsuccessful like the French. Then John Stevens was brought in for a new building idea. Stevens took care of the people so they would be able to do their job, unlike the French, and precautions were set up to prevent disease. He invented the "lake and lock" which made the travel through the canal easier for ships. The construction of the Panama Canal was on a roll and much faster than the French. Then Tomas Goethals took over as leader of the building of the canal. After hard work and many deaths the dam for ships was finally made and in May of 1913 the construction was over. The first boat to pass was on September 26th, 1913. The Panama canal was open for all trade on August 15th, 1914. However there was no praise for the canal because WWI was happening at this time.
Why is it important?
The Panama Canal was important because it allowed a faster and easier trade route from ships from Europe to travel to the U.S. Instead of having to travel all the way around South America they could cut through between North America and South America and arrive weeks earlier. The Panama Canal was also important to the United States because it opened the doors for trade in America and would benefit the economy. The Panama Canal influenced the United States by making it an easier country to trade with and a more powerful country in the trading industry.
Is it progress?
The building of the Panama Canal is a progress because it allowed an easier trade between Europe and the United States. Before the Panama Canal the ships had to travel all around South America and that took up a lot of time. The United States has helped the trading industry progress by building the canal because it also made the trade route easier for other countries to trade with one another. The Panama Canal was a huge progress in the trading industry thanks to the United States stepping in for France and building it.
Leading to...
While the building of the Panama Canal was happening so was WWI. So evidently the building of the Panama Canal did not lead to WWI. However the Panama Canal lead to an easier trade between countries with war supplies and other goods to troops. The Panama Canal could give Americans a more positive topic to talk about instead of the sad topic of war when WWI was taking place.
The Panama Canal is 48 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. At first the French wanted to build a canal to connect America and Europe and they decided to build the canal in 1881. The demands for trade were up and ships trading from Europe had to go all around South America to get to their destination which wasted a lot of time. The Panama Canal was going to cost a lot to build but the money would be given back. So when the canal first started to be built the workers were black or Indian labors and the conditions they went through were horrible. There was a lot of mud, water, and hard work ahead. The idea was to build a dam. However the natural weather caused many deaths in the process of building the Panama canal. Also many people became ill with infected mosquitoes and other disease. Over time the disease caused by the mosquitoes was responsible for many deaths. However the French did not care about their workers dying, they only cared about building the canal. In the end the French had to give up building the Panama Canal because it cost too much and was too much work. Roosevelt jumped into the situation and said that America was going to build the Panama Canal. From the past everyone thought that having the United States build the canal was a scandal. Due to the canals great location for a trade route the American government would do anything to gain control of the Panama Canal. The Columbia and the U.S. fought over the land shortly until the nation Panama was born. The U.S. planned on making profit from their investments. When the U.S. started building the canal they were unsuccessful like the French. Then John Stevens was brought in for a new building idea. Stevens took care of the people so they would be able to do their job, unlike the French, and precautions were set up to prevent disease. He invented the "lake and lock" which made the travel through the canal easier for ships. The construction of the Panama Canal was on a roll and much faster than the French. Then Tomas Goethals took over as leader of the building of the canal. After hard work and many deaths the dam for ships was finally made and in May of 1913 the construction was over. The first boat to pass was on September 26th, 1913. The Panama canal was open for all trade on August 15th, 1914. However there was no praise for the canal because WWI was happening at this time.
Why is it important?
The Panama Canal was important because it allowed a faster and easier trade route from ships from Europe to travel to the U.S. Instead of having to travel all the way around South America they could cut through between North America and South America and arrive weeks earlier. The Panama Canal was also important to the United States because it opened the doors for trade in America and would benefit the economy. The Panama Canal influenced the United States by making it an easier country to trade with and a more powerful country in the trading industry.
Is it progress?
The building of the Panama Canal is a progress because it allowed an easier trade between Europe and the United States. Before the Panama Canal the ships had to travel all around South America and that took up a lot of time. The United States has helped the trading industry progress by building the canal because it also made the trade route easier for other countries to trade with one another. The Panama Canal was a huge progress in the trading industry thanks to the United States stepping in for France and building it.
Leading to...
While the building of the Panama Canal was happening so was WWI. So evidently the building of the Panama Canal did not lead to WWI. However the Panama Canal lead to an easier trade between countries with war supplies and other goods to troops. The Panama Canal could give Americans a more positive topic to talk about instead of the sad topic of war when WWI was taking place.