Speech

1. Panama Canal
100 years
Evelyn Rodriguez
Juliette Delgado
MarianaVergara
Josue Caballero

2. Panama Canal
• The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 77.1-kilometre (48 mi)
ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean
Sea) to the Pacific Ocean.The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and
is a key conduit for international maritime trade.

3. History
• The earliest mention of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama dates back to
1534, when CharlesV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a
survey for a route through the Americas that would ease the voyage for
ships traveling between Spain and Peru. Such a route would have given the
Spanish a military advantage over the Portuguese. During an expedition
from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for its construction.

4. French construction attempts, 1881–1894
• The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of
Panama began on 1 January 1881.The project, designed as a sea-level canal (i.e., without
locks), was under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, with
substantial financing and support from Paris.
Ferdinand Lesseps

5. U.S. acquisition
• At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in
establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a route across Nicaragua (see
Nicaragua Canal) and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama.
U.S. construction, 1904–1914U.S. construction, 1904–1914
The U.S. formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, inheriting from the French a
depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure and equipment, much of it in poor
condition.

6. Excavator at work, in Bas Obispo, 1886
The Culebra Cut, or Gaillard Cut, in 1896
The Culebra Cut in 1902
Construction of locks on the Panama Canal, 1913

7. • Satellite image showing location of Panama
Canal. Dense jungles are visible in green.