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THE PANAMA CANAL CONCEPTION TO COMPLETION Brittany Austin HIST 635 Final Project Examples of machinery used Museum Entrance Acquisition Bench Seating U.S. F in is h e d M a s te r p ie c e AN INGENIOUS IDEA… A : “The voyage (to California) by way of Cape Horn will occupy on an average, five or six months, while by the Isthmus route, the trip is accomplished in as many weeks!” -- Gregory’s Guide for California Travelers via the Isthmus of Panama, 1850 Map Depicting Two Potential Ship Routes
Citation preview
THE ISTHMUS THAT CHANGED
THE WORLD
THE PANAMA CANAL
CONCEPTION TO COMPLETION
Brittany Austin
HIST 635
Final Project
BASIC EXHIBIT LAYOUT
How did they do it? Video Screen Remembering the
Workers
Fin
ish
ed
Ma
ste
rpie
ce
U
.S. A
cq
uis
itio
n
An Ingenious Idea! Gift Shop
Bench Seating
Museum Entrance
Examples
of
machinery
used
AN INGENIOUS IDEA… PANEL 1
Map Depicting Two Potential Ship Routes
A: “The voyage (to California) by way of
Cape Horn will occupy on an average,
five or six months, while by the Isthmus
route, the trip is accomplished in as
many weeks!”
-- Gregory’s Guide for California
Travelers via the Isthmus of Panama,
1850
AN INGENIOUS IDEA… PANEL 2
1750 map showing El Camino Real between
Porto Bello and Panamá and El Camino a
Cruces.
Since the end of the 15th
century, explorers searched
for a Northwest Passage
through Northern America.
When the Spanish acquired
Panama, they found a road
that had been used by native
people, later paved it, and it
became known as the El
Camino Real. This road was
used for traveling back and
forth across the isthmus until
railroad technology was
readily available. The
Panama Railway lasted from
1850-1855.
"The railroad company are so
far conscious of the debility
engendered by a residence on
the Isthmus, that they refuse to
employ those laborers who,
having gone to a healthier
climate to recruit, return to
seek employment. It is found
that such are unprofitable
servants, and yield at once to
the enervating and sickening
climate. The enterprise
requires all the vigor of un-
weakened sinews, and of pure,
wholesome blood.
-“Panama in 1855" by Robert
Tomes
AN INGENIOUS IDEA… PANEL 2
CONTINUED
When engineers
developed how to
build canals in the
late 1800’s, a private
French company
began digging in
Panama. The
company could not
afford to fund the
project, due to poor
engineering skills,
disease, and
necessary
technology, and
therefore abandoned
it, selling the rights
and equipment to the
United States.
AN INGENIOUS IDEA… PANEL 3
Co
lom
bia
Controlled Panama at the time of U.S. inquiry. Signed Hay-Herran treaty selling land to United States. Colombia’s government did not approve it.
Pa
na
ma
Wanted independence from Colombia. U.S. offered their help and so a battle ensued. The U.S. Navy helped win independence for the country in 1903.
Un
ite
d S
tate
s
Purchased the land needed from the newly independent country of Panama through the 1903 Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty. Theodore Roosevelt’s actions were questioned.
BUT…who owned the
land needed ?
UNITED STATES ACQUISITION PANEL 1
Members of the Isthmian Canal Commission (Above)
Letter written by civil engineer George S. Morison to President Theodore Roosevelt explaining his preference for Panama over
Nicaragua (Right)
UNITED STATES ACQUISITION PANEL 2
President Theodore Roosevelt in Panama
(above)
The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, 1903
(right)
“While not possessing any
single feature better than
that of some other route . . .
the Panama route has
many less bad features
than any of the others.”
—George S. Morison,
engineer and Isthmian
Canal Commission
member, 1903
UNITED STATES ACQUISITION PANEL 3
President Theodore Roosevelt in Panama
President Theodore Roosevelt
shovels dirt from the Panama Canal
onto Colombia, in this cartoon by
W.A. Rogers from the New York
Herald, December 1903.
HOW DID THEY DO IT? PANEL 1
The United States gained workers, equipment, and
buildings—none of which were in working order or
organized. The French were mostly unsuccessful due to
the diseases that were spread to the workers. One
Frenchman remarked “If you try to build this canal there will
not be trees enough on the isthmus to make crosses for the
graves of your laborers”. Under the newly elected engineer
John Frank Stevens, many improvements to equipment,
sanitation, and organizing workers were made. The terrain
made it quite difficult to dig the canal
Culebra Cut
This diagram prepared in 1923 illustrates the elevations through which the canal
cuts across the isthmus.
HOW DID THEY DO IT? PANEL 2
A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING
•Thousands of workers from nearly 50 countries
•Over 60,000,000 pounds of dynamite to break up the rock, which was taken away
by as many as 160 trains a day
•Landslides were frequent and dangerous
•Four dams were constructed to create the lakes that form key parts of the canal
•The locks were built out of concrete, which required the excavation of more than 5
million cubic yards of dirt and rock
HOW DID THEY DO IT? PANEL 2
VIDEO SCREEN
This is a video I found on YouTube. I would want something similar, however I’d
have it produced exclusively for the exhibit and provide a more complete picture
of the project.
REMEMBERING THE WORKERS PANEL 1
American workers were skilled workers who came
to work in Panama were paid in gold. However,
most of the workers were unskilled and were paid
in silver. Workers came from fifty different
countries. They worked 10 hour days seven days a
week, and were provided generous pay and shelter
for their work. There was recreation provided for
the workers when they had time.
REMEMBERING THE WORKERS PANEL 2
REMEMBERING THE WORKERS PANEL 2
CONTINUED
REMEMBERING THE WORKERS PANEL 3
Letter to Carter from Gorgas
Results of Sanitation efforts
(middle)
French canal workers’
cemetery (right)
Cycle of how yellow fever
spreads (left)
FINISHED MASTERPIECE PANEL 1
President Theodore Roosevelt said, “I
took the Canal Zone and let Congress
debate; and while the debate goes on,
the canal does also.” So the
construction did, even though his
decisions regarding it are still debated.
Construction was completed and
opened on August 15, 1914. The
Panama Canal was returned to control
by Panama in 1999.
FINISHED MASTERPIECE PANEL 2
RESOURCES
Ruiz, Bruce C. Historic Panamá La Conquista & Exploración
http://bruceruiz.net/PanamaHistory/panama_history.htm. History Ring. (accessed
July 8, 2011).
http://www.eclipse.co.uk/~sl5763/panama.htm. (accessed July 9, 2011).
The Smithsonian Institute. Make the Dirt Fly. http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/
Make-the-Dirt-Fly/. (accessed July 8, 2011).
Ulrich Keller, ed. The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs, New
York, 1984.