Transcript geographical problems - White Plains Public Schools

PANAMA CANAL
The building of the Panama Canal took 34 years from the initial effort in
1880 to actually opening the canal in 1914. The building of the canal is
considered one of the greatest engineering feats in history.
•To sail from Atlantic to Pacific, ships
navigated around Cape Horn, the
treacherous southern extremity of
South America.
• A New York to San Francisco journey
measured some 13,000 miles and
took months.
THE PANAMA CANAL:
“A WONDER OF WORK”
CASE STUDY OF U.S. POLICY AND
PROBLEMS TO BE OVERCOME
1.Political
Problems
2.Geographical
Problems
3.Other Natural
Problems
POLITICAL PROBLEM -GRAN COLUMBIA
Panama
•In the 1820s, at the time of initial
American interest in the Panama Canal,
Panama was part of Gran Colombia.
•In 1902, Panama was still a province of
Colombia
•President Roosevelt offered Colombia
$10 million in cash and $250,00 a year in
rent to allow the United States to build a
canal through Panama
•Many Colombians were against the idea
of an American controlled canal because
of the permanent control they would have
over Colombian territory.
•Others believed the land was much
more valuable than what the United
States was offering.
PANAMA REVOLTS AGAINST COLUMBIA WITH
U.S. HELP
Panama
•There was a segment of the population in
Panama that was against Colombian rule.
•President Roosevelt knew of this antiColombian sentiment.
•He let them know that if they claimed
independence from Colombia, the United
States would help protect them.
•On November 3,1903, a revolt took place
among the Colombian rebels.
•The United States had gunboats stationed in
the harbor near Panama to provide support
for the rebels
•U.S. Marines landed in Panama to prevent
Colombian troops from reaching Panama City
PANAMA REVOLTS AGAINST COLUMBIA WITH
U.S. HELP
•On November 6,1903, newly independent
Panama signed a treaty with the United
States.
•The treaty gave the United States the same
deal with Panama that it had originally
offered Colombia.
•Many Americans were disturbed by
Roosevelt’s role in the revolt, criticizing his
“gunboat diplomacy”
GEOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS
Three major
geographical
problems:
1.
complex
mountain
range
formation;
2.
tropical
jungles; and
3.
complex
topography
COMPLEX MOUNTAIN RANGE FORMATION
PANAMA CANAL
Describe two reasons why the President
Roosevelt wanted to build a canal through
Panama?
American builders faced difficult problems
that threatened to derail the project such as
tropical diseases like Malaria and Yellow Fever.
•Dr. William Gorgas, was hired to eradicate
yellow fever , like he had in Havana years
before.
•He was able to accomplish his goal by
killing the mosquitoes that carried the
diseases. Workers:
1. Drained swamps, swept drainage
ditches, paved roads and installed
plumbing.
2. Sprayed pesticides by the ton.
3. Entire towns rose from the jungle,
complete with housing, schools,
churches, commissaries, and social
halls.
U.S President Theodore Roosevelt
Visiting the canal construction site.
It is estimated that
over 80,000 persons
took part in the
construction and that
over 30,000 lives
were lost in both
French and American
efforts.
1909 Lock Construction
The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far
more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to
that time. In today’s money it would cost $7,448,028,707.72
Panama Canal
TR in Panama
(Construction begins in 1904)
By August 15, 1914 the Panama Canal was officially
opened by the passing of the SS Ancon.
PANAMA CANAL TECHNOLOGICAL FACT
Upon the Canal’s
completion, a ship
traveling from New
York to San
Francisco saved
7,872 miles by using
the Panama Canal
instead of going
around South
America. The
average time spent in
transit from port to
port is approx. 8 - 10
hours.
PANAMA CANAL TECHNOLOGICAL FACT
TODAY
By 2006, the Panama Canal
was maxed out.
In October, the country's
voters approved a $5.25
billion plan to expand and
modernize the canal. The
project will include:
• two new sets of singlelane, three-step locks —
one set at the Atlantic
entrance and one at the
Pacific;
• two new navigational
channels to connect the
new locks to existing
channels; and
• deeper, wider versions
of existing shipping lanes.
WHY ARE THESE CHANGES NEEDED? TIGHT FIT…
In the current
canal locks,
ships have a
clearance of
about 2 ft.
on either
side.
LARGER TRAFFIC LANES
In all, canal crews will dredge 130 million
cubic meters of rock and soil, enough to fill
the Empire State Building nearly 130 times.
The new traffic lane will be large enough to
accommodate larger, more modern, ships
and will double the canal's capacity.