Ep. 42 Panama Canal -

This week I look at the Panama Canal and find out some interesting facts about its creation. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, the Panama Canal, how did that happen?

The Beginning:

The idea of creating a water passage across the isthmus of Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans dates back to at least the 1500s.

An isthmus is defined as a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land.

Political map of Panama with capital, national borders, most important cities, rivers and lakes. Vector illustration with English labeling and scaling.

After explorer Vasco Nuñez de Balboa realized that a narrow strip of land separated the two oceans, King Charles I of Spain tapped his regional governor to survey a route along the Chagres River.

The only other route was to sail around South America via the stormy, unpredictable Strait of Magellan, or use the Panama Railroad to transfer goods and people from one ocean to another.

Types of Canals:

A sea level canal is one through. which vessels may pass without obstruction of any kind.

A lock canal is an enclosure or basin located in the course of a canal or a river (or in the vicinity of a dock) with gates at each end, within which the water level may be varied to raise or lower boats.

The French

France was the first to attempt to make the canal. There were actually 2 locations that the French were deciding between. The other was in Nicaragua but they chose Panama due to the Panamanian railroad.

There were incessant rains that caused heavy landslides and there was no effective means for combating the spread of yellow fever and malaria. An estimated 22,000 people died during the French effort.

Its necessary to mention malaria and its impact on these endeavors because if it weren’t for the discovery of mosquitoes role in malaria there may not be a Panama Canal today. The term Malaria comes from the ancient Greeks. They initially thought malaria came from drinking swamp water and then their ideas shifted to that it came from the air. so you get Mal meaning bad and aria meaning air. Bad air.

Malaria

In 1892 Sir Ronald Ross became interested in malaria and, having originally doubted the parasites’ existence, became an enthusiastic convert to the belief that malaria parasites were in the blood stream when this was demonstrated to him by Patrick Manson during a period of home leave in 1894.

On his return to India in 1895, Ross began his quest to prove the hypothesis of Alphonse Laveran and Manson that mosquitoes were connected with the propagation of malaria, and regularly corresponded with Manson on his findings.

Enter America:

The actual Panama Canal was developed following the failure of a French construction team in the 1880s. The United States commenced building a canal across a 50-mile stretch of the narrow Panama isthmus in 1904.

When a proposed treaty over rights to build in what was then a Colombian territory was rejected, the U.S. threw its military weight behind a Panamanian independence movement, eventually negotiating a deal with the new government.

Following the deliberations of the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission and a push from President Theodore Roosevelt, the United States purchased the French assets in the canal zone for $40 million in 1902.

Now this is worth stopping and digging deeper. Because I did not know much about that part of the world. So I would like to take a moment to talk about the history of Panama.

First off, it’s whats known as a transcontinental country because it is a country that is technically on two different continents. It’s at the bottom of North America and at the top of South America.

It was originally inhabited by indigenous people before the Spanish showed up. They broke away from Spain in 1821.

They eventually fall in with Nueva Granada and create the republic of Columbia around 1831.

Here’s where it gets tricky. So they stay a part of Columbia until 1903 when America is trying to get the canal built.

The U.S. backs the Panamanian independence and then signs a treaty with that new government that grants America exclusive and permanent possession of the Panama Canal Zone. There was no Spanish translation of the treaty. It was only in English.

The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, but the Colombian Senate, fearing a loss of sovereignty, refused. In response, President Roosevelt gave tacit approval to a rebellion by Panamanian nationalists, which began on November 3, 1903.

To aid the rebels, the U.S.-administered railroad in Panama removed its trains from the northern terminus of Colón, thus stranding Colombian troops sent to crush the insurrection.

Other Colombian forces were discouraged from marching on Panama by the arrival of the U.S. warship Nashville. Which is the equivalent of putting a gun on the table.

In exchange for signing the treaty, Panama received $10 million and an annuity of $250,000 beginning nine years later. As stated, there was never a treaty printed in their native language.

Building The Canal:

The majority of the workers on the canal were of carribean descent. There is a great podcast that I listened to called Working History which really delves into the lives of the men who worked on the canal. I would butcher their reporting so I’ll just direct you there. It is worth your time if this pod peaked your interest.

So I never had any idea how the Panama canal worked but after reading some stuff and watching a couple videos I think I have a decent handle on it.

They built the canal over some mountains. They dug down in those mountains some and created a path for water to travel. Then they flooded that pathway from a river and then ships flow through that. Elevating through these locks that get flooded and raise the ship to the next level until it gets across the mountain.

If that made no sense to you. There are videos out there.

What comes next is a series of men put in the position of chief engineer who try to get the canal built but run into the same problems that the French did and then eventually President Teddy Roosevelt puts Lt. Col George Washington Goethals in charge. This is thought to be because all the civilian engineers had quit so Roosevelt was going to choose someone who could not quit.

Goethal finally starts to right the ship. One of the first thing he did was switch from a sea level canal to a lock canal.

This guy did some slick stuff as well. When they were running behind on their deadline by more than a couple of years he used mental warfare to con his workers into working harder. He basically separated them by military and civilian and told each side that the other side they were better than the other.

It worked and the canal was built on time. Woodrow Wilson pressed the button for the bomb that blue the mountain in 1914. That’s what created the water flow.

Now l looked into this a little further and it turns out they pressed the button off receiving a telegram from him or his telegram machine was connected to the dynamite. I’m not sure.

If you haven’t, you should check out some pictures or videos of the creation of the canal. It’s huge. I didn’t know it was that big.

In 1914 the SS Ancon becomes the first ship to pass through the Panama Canal. The ship was renamed for the purpose of the canal since its main purpose was to carry cargo thru that region.

-There is a certain type of ship that is made to the measurements of the Panama Canal so that it will be a perfect fit. These ships are called Panamax ships. It sounds like it would be awesome, but the ships are like literally the same size as the canal so its actually hard to maneuver these vessels and crossings are only done in daylight. They basically have to shut down the other side of the canal.

Work Cited

https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/panama-canal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panamax

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636258/

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal