The Panama Canal

Explain Roosevelt's canal, and how it increased trade.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 22

Look at this trip. To sail from New York to San Francisco, ships had to go all the way around South America, about 13,000 miles.
Panama is the narrow strip of land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Roosevelt, now president, wanted a canal there. It would shorten the trip by about 8,000 miles.
In 1903, Panama broke away from Colombia, with American help. Then the United States began to dig. Roosevelt's goal was trade and a stronger navy.
It was brutal work. Tens of thousands of workers came, many from Caribbean islands. Doctors fought yellow fever by getting rid of mosquitoes. Even so, about 5,600 workers died in the American years.
The canal opened in 1914. Ships saved weeks, and goods cost less to carry. That's how trade grows. In 1999, the canal passed to Panama, which runs it today.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

SS5H1.c — Explain how William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt expanded America's role in the world; include the Spanish-American War and the building of the Panama Canal.
SS5E1.d — Describe how trade and voluntary exchange promotes economic activity (e.g., how the Panama Canal increases trade among countries).