The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal

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The European Middle Ages (Part 2 of 2)

Although the Middle Ages were an undeniably turbulent period in the history of Europe, characterised in part by endemic violence, hardship and inequality, the latter half of the era was also a time of great change and discovery. What historians call the High and Late Middle Ages ...  Show more

The European Middle Ages (Part 1 of 2)

The period known as the Middle Ages was defined by more than knights and warfare. It began centuries before the First Crusade was called, in the confusion that followed the end of Roman rule in western Europe. And it persisted for a thousand years, until the Renaissance, the Prot ...  Show more

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275. The Battle To Build The Panama Canal (Part 3)
Empire: World History

What madcap schemes did French engineers use to drum up support to build the Panama Canal in the 1880s? How did the Gold Rush affect the flow of travellers through Panama looking for a shortcut? Who was the eccentric Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps and why did he fly a hot air bal ...  Show more

The handover of the Panama Canal
Witness History

The Panama Canal is a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and plays a huge role in global shipping.The United States had rights to the land surrounding it, known as the canal zone, and also controlled the waterway itself.In 1977, responding to years of Panamanian pro ...  Show more

El Canal de Panamá
Simple Stories in Spanish

The Panama Canal plays a critical role in today’s global commerce, but it almost didn’t happen. A group of French engineers led by Charles De Lesseps spent nine years in Panama excavating earth to no avail. Later, Theodore Roosevelt took up the canal dream. Another 10 years of ...

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277. America Drills Through Hell’s Gorge (Part 5)
Empire: World History

How did the US orchestrate the Panamanian Revolution to be able to build the Panama Canal? Why did French engineer Bunau-Varilla and the US sign a treaty about Panama without a single Panamanian in the room? How did Americans impose Jim Crow laws in The Canal Zone? William and An ...  Show more