Coventina's History Thread: The Panama Canal - Finally a Success!

In spite of de Lesseps' failure, the idea of a Panama canal persevered.

In 1903, the United States, under the expansionist, big-stick leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, bought out the French and assumed control of the project. Using raised-lock engineering and disease-control methods that included spraying oil on mosquito breeding grounds to eliminate malaria and yellow fever, the Americans completed the canal in 1914.

The Panama Canal, the last of the world's great canals, made sailing from New York to San Francisco a breeze. A trip that once covered 14,000 miles and involved circumnavigating the treacherous tip of South America was now a mere 6000-mile pleasure cruise.

Note: This is the last of my canal posts!! I promise a new subject tomorrow!



President Theodore Roosevelt sitting on a steam shovel during construction - 1906.