Download or read book Building the Panama Canal written by Dale Anderson and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2004-12-15 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the history of the building of the Panama Canal, project's construction, the people involved, and the impact on the history of the United States.
Download or read book The Panama Canal written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-12-03 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the construction written by workers and their family members *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood..." - Theodore Roosevelt Most people have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but while not as many have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, those who have are aware that the Panama Canal is considered one of them. In a world where few natural rivers carved out over eons of time have reached a length of more than 50 miles, the idea that a group of men could carve a canal of that length seemed impossible. In fact, many thought it could not be done. On the other hand, there was a tremendous motivation to try, because if a canal could be successfully cut across Central America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it would cut weeks off the time necessary to carry goods by sea from the well-established East Coast of the United States to the burgeoning West Coast. Moreover, traveling around the tip of South America was fraught with danger, and European explorers and settlers had proposed building a canal in Panama or Nicaragua several centuries before the Panama Canal was actually built. By the late 19th century, the French actually tried to build such a canal, only to fail after a great deal of resources were put into construction and after workers died of malaria and other illnesses. At the turn of the 20th century, not only was the need for a canal still there, but the right man was in the White House. Indeed, President Theodore Roosevelt, a celebrated outdoorsman, might have been the only president who could have foreseen and accomplished such an audacious feat, and even he considered it one of his crowning achievements. He wrote in his memoirs, "There are plenty of other things I started merely because the time had come that whoever was in power would have started them. But the Panama Canal would not have started if I had not taken hold of it, because if I had followed the traditional or conservative method I should have submitted an admirable state paper to Congress...the debate would be proceeding at this moment...and the beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years in the future. Fortunately [the opportunity] came at a period when I could act unhampered. Accordingly I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Building the Panama Canal was a herculean task in every sense. Taking about 10 years to build, workers had to excavate millions of cubic yards of earth and fight off hordes of insects to make Roosevelt's vision a reality. Roosevelt also had to tie up the U.S. Navy in a revolt in Colombia to ensure Panama could become independent and thus ensure America had control of the canal. By 1914, ships were finally traversing through the Panama Canal, just as World War I was about to start, and a century later, the Panama Canal remains one of the world's most vital waterways. The Panama Canal looks at the origins and history of the important trade link between the Atlantic and Pacific. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Panama Canal like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Panama Fever written by Matthew Parker and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Panama Canal was the costliest undertaking in history; its completion in 1914 marked the beginning of the “American Century.” Panama Fever draws on contemporary accounts, bringing the experience of those who built the canal vividly to life. Politicians engaged in high-stakes diplomacy in order to influence its construction. Meanwhile, engineers and workers from around the world rushed to take advantage of high wages and the chance to be a part of history. Filled with remarkable characters, Panama Fever is an epic history that shows how a small, fiercely contested strip of land made the world a smaller place and launched the era of American global dominance.
Download or read book The Panama Canal written by Lesley A. DuTemple and published by Twenty-First Century Books. This book was released on 2002-09-01 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the building of the Panama Canal, with emphasis on the difficulties of digging a canal where some engineers said it could not be done.
Download or read book Building the Panama Canal written by Russell Roberts and published by Mitchell Lane. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The building of the Panama Canal was one of the great engineering feats of the twentieth century. For hundreds of years, mankind had dreamed about cutting through the Isthmus of Panama to build a canal, but the jungle, insects, and the damp, humid conditions had always combined to defeat any and all attempts to construct the waterway. It took the discovery of the mosquito as a disease carrier, the tenacity of the workmen, and the single-minded stubbornness of Theodore Roosevelt to make the canal dream a reality. But if the canal made some men great, it also destroyed the lives of others. That was the sad fate of Count Ferdinand de Lesseps of France, a national hero who had done the impossible by building the Suez Canal, then failed in Panama. The fate of de Lesseps is as much the story of the Panama Canal as is the success of Roosevelt.
Download or read book Building the Panama Canal written by Sylvia Engdahl and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2012-07-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling volume provides the historical background of the construction of the Panama Canal. Readers will learn how women played an important role in the project. Controversies are also explored, including the role that the United States played in the Panamanian Revolution. Personal narratives are presented, from sources such as Theodore Roosevelt and Helen Herron Taft. Other essay sources include the Panama Canal Authority, James T. Du Bois, and David Newton E. Campbell.
Download or read book The Canal Builders written by Julie Greene and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-02-05 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory look at a momentous undertaking-from the workers' point of view The Panama Canal has long been celebrated as a triumph of American engineering and ingenuity. In The Canal Builders, Julie Greene reveals that this emphasis has obscured a far more remarkable element of the historic enterprise: the tens of thousands of workingmen and workingwomen who traveled from all around the world to build it. Greene looks past the mythology surrounding the canal to expose the difficult working conditions and discriminatory policies involved in its construction. Drawing extensively on letters, memoirs, and government documents, the book chronicles both the struggles and the triumphs of the workers and their families. Prodigiously researched and vividly told, The Canal Builders explores the human dimensions of one of the world's greatest labor mobilizations, and reveals how it launched America's twentieth-century empire.
Download or read book The Big Ditch written by Noel Maurer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-08 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An incisive economic and political history of the Panama Canal On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened for business, forever changing the face of global trade and military power, as well as the role of the United States on the world stage. The Canal's creation is often seen as an example of U.S. triumphalism, but Noel Maurer and Carlos Yu reveal a more complex story. Examining the Canal's influence on Panama, the United States, and the world, The Big Ditch deftly chronicles the economic and political history of the Canal, from Spain's earliest proposals in 1529 through the final handover of the Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999, to the present day. The authors show that the Canal produced great economic dividends for the first quarter-century following its opening, despite massive cost overruns and delays. Relying on geographical advantage and military might, the United States captured most of these benefits. By the 1970s, however, when the Carter administration negotiated the eventual turnover of the Canal back to Panama, the strategic and economic value of the Canal had disappeared. And yet, contrary to skeptics who believed it was impossible for a fledgling nation plagued by corruption to manage the Canal, when the Panamanians finally had control, they switched the Canal from a public utility to a for-profit corporation, ultimately running it better than their northern patrons. A remarkable tale, The Big Ditch offers vital lessons about the impact of large-scale infrastructure projects, American overseas interventions on institutional development, and the ability of governments to run companies effectively.
Download or read book The Lost Towns of the Panama Canal written by Marixa Lasso and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-25 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold history of the Panama Canal--from Panama's point of view. Sleuth and scholar, Marixa Lasso has uncovered a long-overlooked story: to build their Canal, Americans displaced 40,000 Panamanians and erased entire cities, only to convince the world they had brought modernity to the tropics.--
Download or read book Hell s Gorge written by Matthew Parker and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-02-28 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2014 is the 100-year-anniversary of the panama canal: one of the most extraordinary engineering feats in world history. Hell's Gorge traces a heroic dream that spanned four centuries: to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.The human cost was immense: in appalling working conditions and amid epidemics of fever, tens of thousands perished fighting the jungle, swamps and mountains of Panama, a scale of attrition comparable to many great battles. Matthew Parker explores the fierce geo-political struggle behind the heroic vision of the canal, and the immense engineering and medical battles that were fought. But he also weaves in the stories of the ordinary men and women who worked on the canal, to evoke everyday life on the construction and depict the battle on the ground deep in 'Hell's Gorge'. Using diaries, memoirs, contemporary newspapers and previously unseen private letters, he draws a vivid picture of the heart-breaking struggle on the Isthmus, in particular that of the British West Indians who made up the majority of the canal workforce. Hell's Gorge is a tale of politics, finance, press manipulation, scandal and intrigue, populated by a dazzling cast of idealists and bullies, heroes and conmen. But it is also a moving tribute to the 'Forgotten Silvermen', so many of whom died to fulfil the centuries-old canal dream.
Download or read book The Panama Canal written by Rebecca Stefoff and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title explores and explains how the Panama Canal was built. The canal's construction is described in terms of the engineering process. The book explores why the canal was built and describes the design stages and technologies used during construction. The book also describes the challenges builders faced while building the canal.
Download or read book Building the Panama Canal written by Sue Vander Hook and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title examines an important historic event, building the Panama Canal. Readers will learn about the historic quests to find a pathway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, France's pursuit in building a canal, and the United States' first trials in building the Panama Canal. Also covered are the key players in the canal's construction and the canal's worldwide impact on commerce and travel. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index. Essential Events is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.
Download or read book Parting the Desert written by Zachary Karabell and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-08-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning historian Zachary Karabell tells the epic story of the greatest engineering feat of the nineteenth century--the building of the Suez Canal-- and shows how it changed the world. The dream was a waterway that would unite the East and the West, and the ambitious, energetic French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps was the mastermind behind the project. Lesseps saw the project through fifteen years of financial challenges, technical obstacles, and political intrigues. He convinced ordinary French citizens to invest their money, and he won the backing of Napoleon III and of Egypt's prince Muhammad Said. But the triumph was far from perfect: the construction relied heavily on forced labor and technical and diplomatic obstacles constantly threatened completion. The inauguration in 1869 captured the imagination of the world. The Suez Canal was heralded as a symbol of progress that would unite nations, but its legacy is mixed. Parting the Desert is both a transporting narrative and a meditation on the origins of the modern Middle East.
Download or read book To Build a Canal written by John N. Dickinson and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Canal Pioneers written by Anthony Burton and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-04-19 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of canals used for transport and the men who built them from the earliest times, up to the end of the ninteenth century. This is a very long history: stones for the pyramids of Egypt were brought to the site by canal and one of the most imposing canal systems ever built, the Grand Canal of China, was begun in the sixth century BC.Development after the end of the Roman Empire was slow, but saw the steady improvement of river navigations through locks the mitre gates were actually first designed by Leonardo da Vinci. The modern age of canals that cross summits began in France, and the most famous of these early waterways was the magnificent Canal du Midi, the brainchild of Pierre-Paul Riquet, completed in 1681. It was a visit to this canal, when he was a teenager on the Grand Tour, that inspired the Duke of Bridgewater to build his famous canal that inspired a rush of canal construction in Britain. Britains canals became the essential transport route that made the countrys industrial revolution possible, thanks to engineers such as James Brindley, William Jessop and Thomas Telford. It was a period of intensive construction that lasted for fifty years from 1760. It saw many innovations from the use of cast iron for bridges and aqueducts, to inclined planes and vertical lifts to move boats from one canal level to another. The nineteenth century also saw extensive canal systems developing in North America, such as the famous Erie Canal, and culminated in two great ship canals at Suez and Panama. The book tells an exciting story of canal development and the many men who made it possible.
Download or read book History of the Panama Canal Its Construction and Builders 1915 written by Ira Elbert Bennett and published by . This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
Download or read book How Wall Street Created a Nation written by Ovidio Diaz-Espino and published by Primedia E-launch LLC. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal narrates the dramatic and gripping account of the beginnings of the Panama Canal led by a group of Wall Street speculators with the help of Teddy Roosevelt’s government. The result of four years of research, the book offers the real story of how the United States obtained the rights to build the Canal through financial speculation, fraud, and an international conspiracy that brought down a French republic and a Colombian government, created the Republic of Panama, rocked the invincible President Roosevelt with corruption scandals, and gave birth to U.S. imperialism in Latin America.
