Taylor Powell

Term Paper
CEEN 1100
April 30, 2014
Global Panama Canal

Since the establishment of America, there have been many great and marvelous
engineering feats. They have come in all different shapes and sizes, and are spread across the
globe. It would be near impossible to rank which project was the single greatest achievement of
the time, seeing as each project is magnificent in its own way and cannot be compared to those
of a different nature. It is my objective that throughout this paper, the reader will gain a better
understanding and appreciation for just one of these projects, The Panama Canal. I hope that as
the reader becomes familiar with this achievement, they will be able to look at the world
around them and realize what kind of an effect a project like this can have, in many different
aspects. I will be focusing on the global side, the fact that one project can affect many different
countries or people.
The 19
th
century was coming to a close, bringing about a new age the world had yet to
see. Each country was in their own struggle to become a world power, trying to gain a step on
everyone else. Amazing achievements and breakthroughs in science and medicine were just a
few of the ways that a country could move up in the world power standings. But it wasnt
necessarily a battle to see which country was the best country. Yes each country wanted to be
considered the best, but it was also a time of great improvement for the world as a whole.
Things were being discovered that changed a vast majority of people all over the globe. It was a
time of growth for all mankind.
The French wanted to get a jump start going into the 20
th
century and decided to try
something that would revolutionize the world. They wanted to build a canal through the
Isthmus of Panama, which would save weeks of sailing time and be instrumental in shipping
and transport of almost anything you can think of. This canal would link the two largest oceans
together, and be one of the greatest engineering projects of all time. The French called on
Ferdinand De Lesseps, the builder of the legendary Suez Canal in 1869.
It was 1880, and De Lesseps was looking for a comeback. The French considered him
the most famous man in the world (Suez History). As experts started to evaluate the project,
they continually said it couldnt be done, but that didnt stop De Lesseps from his goal. Panama
was considered one of the most difficult places in the world to build canal. There were many
different obstacles, many hazards that werent present in other places like Suez. Some of these
things included venomous snakes, thick jungles, deep swamps, and a heavy mountain range. It
was considered insane by some to even try such a task, but De Lesseps went straight to task,
ordering his workers to carve the canal.
These men would work endlessly for eight and a half years, encountering problem after
problem. They had earthquakes, fires, flooding, and corruption, they had almost any problem
you could think of. Finally during 1889, De Lesseps failed. He squandered an enormous amount
of money, almost $287 million. The mortality rate was incredible, 20,000 lives were lost from
accidents and disease. De Lesseps went bankrupt, going from one of the worlds richest men to
almost nothing in less than ten years. (Panama Canal)
The next ten years, De Lesseps project sat as a symbol of death and failure to the world.
Everybody viewed the canal has a loss, a burden. But America looked at it from another point of
view. They saw it as an opportunity to prove to the world that this new young country was on
the rise, and that they were capable of being a world power. President Theodore Roosevelt was
the man in office, and believed that the canal was the link to Americas future. The United
States of America had been expanding and growing in rapid proportions, and Roosevelt felt that
the canal would project the U.S. into the same league as the greatest countries.
The U.S. had become the number one country as far as industry goes. As a result, this
caused the leaders to encounter some problems globally. How could they send goods from New
York to Asia in the most reasonable way? Well, for the time they were sending the ships down
around the tip of South America and then west to the Asian lands. The improvements this canal
would make would be monumental, and to have it done by the Americans themselves, well, all
the better. The canal would be a huge advantage and play a key role in the realm of world
super-power.
The first object on Roosevelts canal agenda was to get the approval to build the canal.
At this time, Panama was providence under the country of Columbia. After a lot of negotiating,
Columbia unanimously voted that they would not give the Americans permission to build there.
This left Roosevelt with few options, but he wasnt going to let this small roadblock get in the
way. One of his choices was to invade Panama and take control of the area. This was something
he might have done, but there was a better way. He knew that the people had been trying to
revolt from Columbia for years. Roosevelt offered to protect Panama if they would separate
themselves from Columbia.
The people of Panama had been seeking a revolution, and they took this opportunity
gladly. In just a single day, the revolution was complete with the only casualties being a
foreigner and a donkey. Panama was now recognized as its own country. As part of the treaty,
the Republic of Panama gave the U.S. full control over the canal zone which was a 500 square
mile part of Panama where the canal was to be carved.
Roosevelt immediately went to action, appointing John Wallace to head the
construction. The American project officially began on May 4, 1904. The real authority rested
with a committee appointed by the President. Any decision made would have to go through
this panel of men, making it difficult to make much progress. The Americans didnt really have a
game-plan going into the effort, except for picking up where the French had left off. Wallace
was given only 3500 men to work with, and he immediately set to digging.
Immediately there were problems. Only weeks into the project there were three cases
of yellow fever, which can cause internal bleeding, bleeding of the gums, and the dreaded black
vomiting caused by internal hemorrhaging. By December, six more men contracted the disease,
and many people began to panic. Some said that the land was cursed; saying that death that
followed the French was now following the Americans. In just three months, 500 of the workers
fled. By June of 1905, almost three-fourths of the American labor force had left. The strain
became too much for Wallace, and he resigned, leaving the project in a standstill. The American
people were dismayed. By all accounts it seemed as if the Americans were falling right into the
Frenchs tracks, almost mirroring exactly what the French had done. They were so close to
failure, and it seemed as if there was no hope. (Panama Canal)
The project needed a boost, which came in the form of Wallaces replacement, John
Stevens. Stevens had a reputation, as he had trekked thousands of miles surveying the Midwest
of the states and plotted the passage for the transcontinental railroad. It was said that he had
laid more railroad line than any other man alive, and now he was sent to rescue the project in
Panama. Stevens came with a new plan, bringing ideas for several upgrades to railroad carts,
using his engineering brilliance; he maximized the use of the rundown railroad. He had several
improvements, making machines that were capable of doing the work of 900 men. It was an
incredible change that was happening on site.
All that was keeping the project from completion now was the number of workers. The
French had relied on men from the West Indies, but Stevens wanted more men, different men.
He started recruiting everywhere from Greece to Spain and Italy, but ended up taking most of
the men from the West Indies. By the 1907, the workforce equaled 24,000 and 70% of them
were West Indians.
As the canal project neared completion, it was starting to make headlines worldwide,
and tourists started to flock to Panama. Nobody believed what they were hearing, and many
had to see it with their own eyes to believe it. Tourists came as far away as Europe and East
Asia. The canal officially opened on August 15, 1914. After ten years and $352 million, the
project was finally complete. America had achieved the impossible, picking up where the
French left off, and used innovation and genius to conquer the land of Panama. It brought into
the world a new power. The United States of America. (A man, a plan, a canal, Panama)
As I went about describing this super achievement, I purposely left out some of the
details about the numbers, measurements and such. I wanted to show the reader how one
project can affect the world, whether it is through trade and commerce, or through the
recruiting of workers, each project has the potential to affect you. The next time you see on the
news that a canal is being built, or even something as simple as a house being built, I hope you
realize that the effect of that project and how many people have been involved in it some way.































Works Cited

"Suez-History." Suez-History. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.napoleon.org/en/special_dossier/suez/html-content/historique/txt-002.html>.

Panama Canal. Dir. Stephen Ives. Perf. Unknown. PBS Distribution, 2011. Film.

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama. Dir. Carl Charlson. Perf. unknown. WGBH Educational
Foundation :, 2004. DVD.