History of the Panama Canal

This is a picture of the western end of the Panama Canal. That is the Pacific Ocean ahead.

I've always been somewhat interested in the Panama Canal, but especially after I read The Path Between the Seas, by David McCullough. He's my favorite author. He's written John Adams, Truman, 1776, etc. I've read all his books. If I had access to any of his high school English papers, I'd read those to. I read his Panama book at least a decade ago and then I reread it before my cruise. Its pretty hefty and maybe goes into a little more detail than one would need, but it's really good.

The story of the canal was interesting. The French had built the Suez Canal previouosly and wanted to do the same through Panama (or maybe Nicaragua - more on that later). The Suez Canal meant sailing from, say Rome to India way easier rather than going around Africa - Same with Panama, except here it saved going around South America. Even with the costs, it was a big money and time saver.

However, for tthe Suez Canal, the land was relatively flat and they were basically digging through sand. In Panama, it was not at all flat and it meant carving a path through mountains. Plus Panama had rough diseases like yellow fever and malaria.

France hung in there for many years, but ultimately failed. Thousands died from disease and  an awful lot of money was spent. They left the beginnings of a canal and a lot of rusting equipment. They sought to dig all the way down to sea level rather than use a lock system. That was simply not going to work because there was too much mountain to move. 

So then the U.S. gave it a shot. At the time, the land was actually owned by Columbia. They weren't crazy about a canal, but if there was a revolution and Panama became its own country, they would probably be more cooperative. That's luckily what happen. OK, not exactly luck. The US was backing the coup so they could get their canal. The U.S. cut a deal with Panama. There was a thought that Nicaragua might be a better spot to dig. To be continued.