USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 10 years, between 1904 and 1914, the United States mounted and completed one of the most massive construction projects in history-the building of the Panama Canal. To create this ribbon of water between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Isthmus Canal Commission excavated 232 million cubic feet of soil.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Panama Canal was first developed following the failure of a French construction team in the 1880s, when the United States commenced building a canal across a 50-mile stretch of the narrow Panama isthmus in 1904.

Detailed explanation-3: -The United States, led by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, negotiated the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the U.S. control of the Canal Zone. Work under U.S. supervision began in 1904, and the Panama Canal was completed in 1914.

Detailed explanation-4: -Americans knew they needed this to move ships from east to west quickly. If they did that, they would control power because they would control the oceans. The Canal was a geopolitical strategy to make the United States the most powerful nation on earth.