Why Did The Us Build The Panama Canal
Olivia Luz
History of the panama canal.
Construction of a canal along the route using the san juan river was proposed in the early colonial era due to the favourable geography of the area since this river empties the lake into the caribbean. Spain s emperor and king charles v ordered a survey to determine the possibility of building a canal to allow for ship voyages from peru to spain through america. Why did us build the panama canal through panama instead of nicarargua. Early european explorers of the americas identified the narrow band of land between northern and southern america as an ideal place to construct a canal to link the atlantic and pacific oceans.
The canal would also give spain a military advantage over the portuguese. However the first attempt to build the desired canal was in january 1881. The discovery of gold in california in 1848 spurred interest in creating a shorter link between the. Under president theodore roosevelt the us decided to unilaterally build a canal securing the territorial rights by facilitating the independence of panama from colombia in 1903.
Railways system was still incipient. The distance between oceans was greater in nicaragua which would require more funds and labor to be built there when instead they could build it in panama where there would be half the work and wouldn t take as long to be built. When shipping was the known way for transporting goods in the united states a ship sending cargo from the east coast to the west coast the ships would have to go completely around the continent of south america. Instead of making the long voyage around the southern tip of south america ships could make the trip in less than half the time.
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Why was the panama canal needed. The united states wanted to build the panama canal to shorten the ocean journey from the east coast to the west coast. Early proposals of the construction of a canal across the isthmus of panama began in 1534. Roosevelt wanted to connect the eastern and western coasts of the u s.
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