USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -President Roosevelt moved rapidly to begin building the Panama Canal, which he called “this great enterprise.” In 1904, U.S. Army Colonel William C. Gorgas, an expert in tropical diseases, was one of the first to begin work in Panama.

Detailed explanation-2: -President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the realization of a long-term United States goal-a trans-isthmian canal. Throughout the 1800s, American and British leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Detailed explanation-3: -Once he became president, Roosevelt acted quickly to establish plans to build the canal. In 1902, the U.S. reached an agreement to buy rights to the French canal property and equipment. Next, the U.S. then began negotiating a Panama treaty with Colombia.

Detailed explanation-4: -He firmly believed in expanding American power in the world. To do this, he wanted a strong navy. And he wanted a way for the navy to sail quickly between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Roosevelt decided to build that waterway.

Detailed explanation-5: -Roosevelt considered the construction of the canal his greatest accomplishment as president. Years later he noted in his autobiography, “I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me.”