The Panama Canal Movie Worksheet
Directions: Answer the following questions based on the movie. The questions are listed in the
order they appear in the film. You do not need to use complete sentences.
1. Why was Jan Van Hardeveld heading to Panama in 1905? What did he say about his adopted
country, America?
2. What had American feats like the transcontinental railroad, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge,
and the Wright Brother's first flight cause many Americans to be fascinated with? How would
this draw them to Panama?
3. How were the conditions in Panama different than those in Suez where the French had built a
canal? How did DeLeSeppe's effort to build a canal in Panama in 1895 turn out?
4. What nation had the most to gain if a canal was built in Panama? Why did Teddy Roosevelt
want a canal in Panama?
5. Why did the Columbian legislature unanimously reject America's bid to build the Canal? How
did Roosevelt respond to this or what did he do?
6. Why was the Panamanian Revolution so short and so successful?
7. What was the “make the dirt fly” plan in Panama and why didn't it work?
8. What caused 500 American workers to flee in January of 1905? How many had fled Panama by
June 1905?
9. What occupation was John Stevens before he arrived in Panama and how did he change the plan
to build the canal?
10. What was at the heart of the system that Stevens designed? How did the railroad function as a
conveyor belt?
11. What did Stevens realize about building a sea-level Canal and what kind of canal would be
needed to cross Panama?
12. When Rose Van Hardeveld arrived in Panama in 1906, how long had it been since she and her
children had seen her husband?
13. What was a “Panama Man” and how did Americans use this trick to recruit labor around the
West Indies?
14. What had the West Indians not been told about work on the canal? What was the class system
on the Canal like?
15. How many men were working on the Canal by the end of 1906? How many of these men were
West Indian?
16. What happened to Jan and Rose Van Hardeveld's daughter “Sister” in 1906? Was this a
common experience for those working on the canal?
17. What was the number one killer for those working on the canal? What revolutionary new
technique did Dr. Gorgas propose to use to combat this disease?
18. How did the Panama Canal Commission react to Gorgas proposal? How did it end up getting
passed in the end?
19. What had Dr. Gorgas done by the fall of 1906 and how did this help the work being done on the
canal?
20. How did Teddy Roosevelt decide to resolve his “pr problem” concerning the canal? How does it
work?
21. What did John Stevens write in his letter to President Roosevelt in January of 1907 and why?
How did Roosevelt react to this news and why did he replace him with a military man?
22. Why did the Culebra Cut gain the nickname, “Hell's Gorge”? What were the conditions like?
23. When working on the canal, why did the men who set the dynamite often leave their belongings
with their friends? Why did Gothel extend the rail road tracks to the local cemetery?
24. What sound used to wake up Rose Van Hardenfeld in the middle of the night?
25. What problem was there with the American workers in Panama and how did the management
try to fix this problem? Did it work?
26. How were the locks and all the systems of the canal powered and how many horsepower were
the engines that opened and closed the locks?
27. Because of a publicity stunt, what device triggered the explosion that blew up the Gamboa Dike
and finished the flooding of the last part of the canal, the Culebra Cut?
28. How did most of the workers and the people present at the final flooding of the canal react
when they saw the canal finished?
29. How long did it take to build the canal? How much had it cost? How many people died building
the canal?
30. Who had global power shifted to once the Panama Canal was completed?
Short Answer:
You have just watched a documentary that describes the building of the Panama Canal in detail. The
canal is often seen as one of Theodore Roosevelt's crowning achievements, and a comment is made in
the movie that the opening of the canal marked America's entry into the world a premier global power.
The construction of the canal was not easy, though, and through massive expenditure of lives and
money and a commitment to see the project through, America succeeded where France had failed. In a
short essay of 1-2 sentences, explain why the United States, at this time in its history, with Theodore
Roosevelt as its president, was uniquely suited to achieve this extraordinarily difficult feat.