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The Beginning of the Canal
When the Spanish-American Was bagan in 1898, the U.S. battleship Oregon set out from washingtion State to join the battle in Cuba. It took more than 2 months to travel the 12,000- mile trip around the southern tip of South America. This delay convinced many U.S. leaders that the United States needed to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific -
Revolution in Panama
President Theodore Roosevelt was a big supporter of the idea of the Canal and knew the perfect location was the Isthmus of Panama which, at the time, was part of the nation of Columbia. Roosevelt was unable to convince the Columbian Government to lease a strip of land across Panama to the U.S. Roosevelt learned that Panamanian revoltionaries were planning a revolt against Columbia. On November 2nd, 1903, a U.S. warship arrived outside Colon, Panama and the next day the revolt began. -
Panama: An Independent Country
After the rebellion over threw the government the new government of panama supported the idea of a canal across its land. The United States agreed to pay Panama $10 million plus $250,000 a year for a 99-year lease on a 10-mile-wide strip of land across the isthmus. -
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Building the Canal
Construction of the Panama Canal took 10 years before it was finished.The canal route ran through 51 miles of forests and swamps filled with misquitoes which carried malaria and yellow fever. The contruction the of the Canal was very dangerous and it was normal for workers to die from explosives. Some 6,000 lives were lost during the contruction of the Canal.It finally opened to ships on August 15, 1914, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.After 10 years to complete and $375 million dollars.
