WHY BUILD A CANAL?
• ECONOMIC: Shorter routes to/from important trade centers & colonies
• MILITARY: Quicker response to and control of colonial territories
• POLITICAL: Increased Expansion and Global Controls by World Powers
THE SUEZ CANAL
Earliest Attempts at Building a Canal
• Darius I of Persia (c: 550 BCE)
• Ptolemy II of Egypt (c: 270 BCE)
• Remnants discovered by engineers
of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799
Modern Ideas for building a Canal
• General Francis R. Chesney submitted a report to
the British Government concerning feasibility of
building a canal in 1830
• French explorer Linant de Bellefonds surveyed the
Isthmus of Suez and made plans for a Canal in the
mid-1830’s
THE SUEZ CANAL
• In 1856, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps
acquired permission to create a company to
build a canal from the Viceroy of Egypt
• The Suez Canal Company was established on
15 December 1858
• Work started on the Port Said end of the canal
on 25 April 1859
• Excavation took
ten years using
conscripted
Egyptians (Corvee)
as forced laborers
Ferdinand de Lesseps
• British Government
opposed use of
slave labor by
arming the nomadic
Bedouins
THE SUEZ CANAL
• Involuntary labor on the project
ceased after the Viceroy of
Egypt condemned the Corvee
• The Canal finally opened on
17 November 1869
• The cost of the project ended up
being double what was planned
Immediate and Dramatic Effects
• Shortened travel times around the
World
• It played an increasing role in the
colonization of Africa & Asia
• Allowed the British Navy to expand
its superiority on the seas
THE SUEZ CANAL
TABLE #1
Distances from Liverpool and New York via Cape Town & Suez Canal
FROM
TO BOMBAY
TO HONGKONG
TO SYDNEY
VIA Cape Town
10,730
13,195
12,626
VIA Suez Canal
6,189
9,785
12,235
Distance Saved
4,541
2,689
391
VIA Cape Town
11,511
13,966
13,306
VIA Suez Canal
8,102
11,673
13,512
Distance Saved
3,409
2,293
-206
LIVERPOOL
NEW YORK
THE PANAMA CANAL
Earliest Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
• Spanish Naval Officer, Alessandro Malaspina, demonstrated
the feasibility of a canal and outlined plans for its construction
between 1788 - 1793
• Panama Railway was built across the Isthmus and opened
by 1855
• American Engineer, William Kennish, surveyed and issued
a report on a possible route for a canal across the Isthmus
• Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, began
construction on a sea-level canal (without locks)
on 1 January 1880
• Project was devastated by epidemics of malaria
and yellow fever
• Due to difficulties, the project was abandoned
THE PANAMA CANAL
U.S. Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
• U.S. Success during the Spanish American
War suddenly increased their size as a
growing world power
• Need to link the U.S. to their Pacific holdings
both Economically and Militarily
• U.S. Assisted Panama
with independence from
Columbia
• Panama grants the U.S.
a lease on the Isthmus
THE PANAMA CANAL
U.S. Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
• John Frank Stevens was appointed Chief Engineer
of the Canal Project by President Teddy Roosevelt in
1905
• Convinced the President that a sea-level canal was
unfeasible
• Began construction
of a canal using
dams and locks
• Colonel William Gorgas of the U.S. Army
led massive program to clear lands and
exterminate disease carrying insects
• The project required over 43,000 laborers
(primarily from the British West Indies)
THE PANAMA CANAL
U.S. Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
• President Roosevelt capitalized on the Panama Canal to promote his
foreign policy:
"I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and
while the debate goes on, the canal does too.”
THE PANAMA CANAL
U.S. Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
THE PANAMA CANAL
U.S. Interests in the Isthmus of Panama
• Difficulties, Disagreements, and Construction delays caused Stevens to
resign in 1907
• President Roosevelt appointed an Army Engineer to finish the project
Brig. Gen. George Washington Goethals (U.S.M.A. Class of 1880)
THE PANAMA CANAL
• Canal was completed in
1910
• Canal opened on
15 August 1914 with the
passage of SS Ancon
• Same month that fighting
began in Europe during
World War One
THE PANAMA CANAL
• Completed the new global
shipping link (East – West)
• Expanded the power of the U.S. Navy in the
Pacific Ocean
• Increased the
economic link
between North
and South
America
THE PANAMA CANAL
TABLE #2
Distances from New Orleans and New York via Magellan & Panama Canal
FROM
TO HONOLULU
SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
VIA Magellan Route
13,728
13,551
14,369
VIA Panama Canal
6,123
4,683
5,501
Distance Saved
7,605
8,868
8,868
VIA Magellan Route
13,312
13,135
13,953
VIA Panama Canal
6,702
5,262
6,080
Distance Saved
6,610
7,873
7,873
NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK
PANAMA -vs- SUEZ CANAL
TABLE #3
Distances from New York and Liverpool via Suez Canal or Panama Canal
FROM
TO HONOLULU
HONG KONG
MELBOURNE
VIA Suez Canal
13,312
11,673
13,162
VIA Panama Canal
6,702
11,691
10,392
Distance Saved
6,610
18
2,770
VIA Canal
13,679
9,785
11,654
VIA Panama Canal
9,276
13,957
12,966
Distance Saved
4,403
4,172
1,312
NEW YORK
LIVERPOOL