hough the land, he devised building lochs, in which the boats would be raised gradually. Back then the land in which the canal was to be built was owned by Columbia. Theodore Roosevelt asked the Columbians for permission to build the canal, but they refused. People living on the isthmus were dissenting from the Columbian government and eventually revolted and set up the independent Republic of Panama. “It was Roosevelt who “took the isthmus,” regardless of the niceties of international law and Congressional debate.” – The Good Neighbor: Teddy’s Big Ditch, Building the Canal. When the Panamanians revolted Teddy saw this as the perfect investment to get the canal underway. He supported the Panamanians and sent warships to stop any help from the Columbian government to put down the rebellion. The Panamanians declared their independence and were very grateful towards the Americans. The Americans leased a strip of land, called the Panama Canal Zone, for $10,000,000. The land was forty-five miles long and ten miles wide and the American’s paid a $430,000 rent every year. In 1904, they agreed to let the United States build the canal, which was continued on the old French canal. The canal cost a little more than $395,000,000 and was considered the “…greatest man-made waterway…” – Our American Neighbors: Panama, Crossroads of the World. The canal has been a great source of revenue for the U.S. and Panama. Each ship that passes through the canal pays by the ton of cargo it has. The larger ships that pass through the canal pay from $15,000 to $20,000. The 52,000 American and Panamanians that lived in the Panama Canal Zone were employed in some way to the canal. It provided jobs for many people. The U.S. government has built and maintained homes, libraries, hospitals, clubs, and schools in the Canal Zone. Because of the canal Panama has been become known to the world as “...
