US History

The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

World History

This collection uses primary sources to explore the construction of the Panama Canal.

The text from a 1901 speech given by Phillipe Bunau-Varilla assessing the value of Nicaragua and Panama Canal options.

An illustration of men packing 6.5 million dollars in gold for the first United States’ Panama Canal purchase payment to France, 1904.

A map of Panama indicating the path of the Panama Canal, 1904.

A 1905 political cartoon about Congressional debate over funds to build the Panama Canal.

A photograph of laborers depart from Barbados for the Panama Canal, 1909.

A photograph of construction on the sides of the Panama Canal with houses in the background.

A chart showing the percentage of Panama Canal laborers with malaria over time, 1916.

A photograph of man using a knapsack sprayer to apply larvacide to a ditch in Panama, 1910.

A photograph of Department of Agriculture surveyors documenting Gatun Lake prior to the completion of the Panama Canal, 1910-11. 

A photograph of Jamaicans operating a compressed air drill as part of construction for the Panama Canal, 1913.

A photograph of a construction tower in the Panama Canal Bed.

A photograph of segregated living quarters for black Panama Canal laborers and their families.

A stereoscopic card from Keystone Viewing Company of the Gatun locks at work, Panama Canal, 1910s.

A 1914 political cartoon depicting the completion of the Panama Canal.

A film reel of the Panama Canal in 1921 taken by the U.S. Department of the Navy.

Questions

1. According to the [speech given by Phillipe Bunau-Varilla](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-panama-canal/sources/195), which specific facts did advocates for the Nicaragua Canal use to make their case? Why, according to Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, are these ideas misguided?

2. What does the [1905 political cartoon](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-panama-canal/sources/198) tell us about the politics behind Congressional approval of funds to build the Panama Canal?

3. Using the items in this set as evidence, what are some of the challenges that construction workers faced on the Panama Canal?

4. Using the items in this set as evidence, how did the construction of the Panama Canal impact the natural environment?

5. How do the creators of the [1921 film reel](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-panama-canal/sources/209) want viewers to feel about the Panama Canal? To whom do they give credit? Compare and contrast this with the motivations and message of the [1914 political cartoon](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-panama-canal/sources/208).


Activity

Ask students to use the items in this set to write a week-long journal from the point of view of a construction worker on the Panama Canal. Require students to be specific about what kind of worker, which week of which year, and where the worker is from, or write these identities and ask students to do further research to flesh them out. Ask each student to write a brief entry for each day of the week describing the challenges and triumphs involved in building the Panama Canal.

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Building of the Panama Canal

Resources

1. [Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tr-panama/), PBS American Experience. 

2. [Building the Panama Canal, 1903-1914](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. 

3. [The Story of the Panama Canal](https://www.loc.gov/item/mp76000330/), the Library of Congress. 

Overview

Beginning with sixteenth-century European explorers, travelers and traders in the Americas dreamed of direct route to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. That dream would become a reality with the construction of the Panama Canal, a forty-eight mile ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The new passage allowed ships to cross in six to eight hours and avoid the long, treacherous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America. Although the canal project was started by France in 1881, the United States purchased French equipment and excavations in Panama in 1904 and began construction. A decade later, after political struggles, changes in leadership, 375 million dollars in spending, and the death of an estimated 5,600 workers, the project was complete. This primary source set includes photographs, documents, maps, and footage that can be used to explore the stories of environmental issues, political struggle, and human labor that built the Panama Canal.

English

The Panama Canal

panama-canal_11_7029f95767c10bc70a2477011f6704c6.jpg

Courtesy of State University of New York Geneseo, Milne Library via Empire State Digital Network.

Wadsworth, Martha Blow, “Construction Tower in Panama Canal Bed,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/41075881f70ea42af4555946ee1f7ff6.

A photograph of a construction tower in the Panama Canal Bed.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 11 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Panama Canal