The Panama Canal

In the early 1900s, the United States decided that they wanted to build a canal that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Ships would not have to travel as far. This would make travel and trade between the oceans much faster.

France had tried to do the same thing 20 years earlier but wasn’t able to complete it. In 1903, the land of Panama belonged to Colombia. President Theodore Roosevelt offered to pay Colombia for the strip of land so that the United States could build the canal. The government of Colombia felt the offer was too low.

Roosevelt then supported a group of Panamanian rebels who wanted independence from Colombia. He sent U.S. ships that prevented the Colombian army from landing in Panama. Without a fight, Panama won its independence and sold the land to the United States.

Building the canal was a massive effort. Jungles had to be cleared and huge amounts of earth moved. Workers also had to fight mosquitoes carrying deadly diseases. Finally, an army doctor controlled the mosquito population by preventing breeding. The first ship sailed through the Panama Canal in August 1914.