Posted by 4kayley. on November 24, 2009 at 12:56pm
The Panama Canal is a canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It replaces the Drake Passage and Cape Horn route. The canal was built by the United States in the early 1900’s because the French failed when they tried to build it.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain was the first to ever mention anything about building the canal. He got a survey ordered for the route the Panama so that it would make it easier for ships that were traveling from Spain and Peru. This route would also give the Spanish a military tactic over the Portuegese. The Panama Railway was finally built in 1855 across the isthmus.
Ferdinand de Lesseps lead the French to build the Canal in 1880. They went to work in a rush and didn’t study the geology and hydrology of the region also, diseases like malaria and yellow fever came and sickened and killed a lot of the employees. They quickly went back to France.
In 1898 the chief of the French Canal Syndicate hired hired William Nelson Cromwell to build the Panama Canal instead of a canal across Nicaragua. On January 22, 1903, the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Dr. Tomás Herrán from Colombia. This treaty granted the United States a 99-year lease from Colombia on the land that was wanted to build the canal. The Senate of Colombia wouldn’t ratify the treaty. After this came the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty. This treaty gave rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal. The Panama ambassador the United States signed it but because he was French he wasn’t supposed to because he didn’t have permission from Panama. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties were made to fix the problems people were having, it returned the former Canal Zone territories back to Panama.While others were arguing about lands, the United States started building the canal but there were still several deaths because of diseases and other things while they were building it but it was finally done in 1914. Now the canal is a huge importance in the shipping industry.
Comments