Page 52 - 2025 - Q1 - Minerva in Focus

MINERVA IN FOCUS

The Panama Canal:

A passage that

changed history

The Panama Canal is one of the most
important waterways in the world. It
connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,
saving ships weeks of sailing time
by avoiding the long route around the
southern tip of South America. But behind
this shortcut is a long and complicated
history – one that helped shape not only
the country of Panama but global shipping
as a whole.

The early struggle to build the canal An engineering challenge
Work on the canal officially began under US
The dream of a canal through Central Amer- control in 1904. This time, the approach was The canal
ica goes back centuries. In the late 1800s,
the French, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps different. Instead of trying to dig a sea-level changed
(who had built the Suez Canal), tried to dig a would lift and lower ships through a series everything for
canal, engineers designed a lock system that
canal across Panama, which was then part
of Colombia. But they faced huge problems of artificial lakes and channels. The biggest international
– heavy rains, dangerous terrain, and deadly Cut (a mountain range) and controlling the shipping. It
challenges were cutting through the Culebra
tropical diseases like malaria and yellow
fever. Over 20,000 workers died, and the Chagres River, which often flooded. shortened
The US also brought in doctors and sanita-
project was abandoned. tion experts to fight the spread of disease. the distance
In the early 1900s, the United States be-
came interested in building the canal. Thanks to better planning, equipment, and between the
health measures, the project moved for-
They signed a treaty with Colombia, but ward. After ten years of hard work, the Pan- East and West
the Colombian Senate rejected it. At the
same time, a movement for Panama’s inde- ama Canal officially opened on 15 August, coasts of the
pendence was growing. With US support, 1914, with the first ship, the “SS Ancon”, Americas by
Panama declared independence from Co- making the full transit.
lombia in 1903. Soon after, Panama signed over 8,000
the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the The canal changed everything for interna- nautical miles
A game-changer for global trade
US the right to build and control the canal
zone. tional shipping. It shortened the distance

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