WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases conspired against the de Lesseps campaign and after 9 years and a loss of approximately 20, 000 lives, the French attempt went bankrupt. In spite of such setbacks, American interest in a canal continued unabated.

Detailed explanation-2: -"Following the success of the Suez Canal, Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique incorporated under French law on March 3, 1881, for the purpose of building a canal through Panama-the first attempt at construction of a waterway to cross the Panamanian isthmus.

Detailed explanation-3: -The idea of creating a canal over the isthmus of Panama goes back to the 15th century. One of the first countries to attempt construction was France. The team was led by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Detailed explanation-4: -The French Failure-Panama Canal. The French attempt to construct a waterway across the Isthmus was foredoomed to failure because the project fell into the hands of promoters and speculators. A contributory cause was the very high sick and death rate among the French employees on the Isthmus.