What was the reason for the panama canal

The Panama Canal's idea was first born from France, in the hope of creating a trade route that was faster in connecting the West (specifically Europe) to the East (China & Japan specifically). However, due to lack of funds, loss of equipment and lives of workers to diseases, the French sold their rights to creating the canal to the United States, who carried out and completed the task of building the Canal. The United States' reason in completing the Canal was to cut down the time it took to sail her Eastern Navy to the West and vice versa, allowing for the sailing to go from months to weeks. This proved itself in the Spanish-American War, in which both navies were able to be called upon to help with invasions on both sides of the world.

The United States also used the Panama Canal for commercial usage, allowing tolls on ships to pass through the area. They relinquished their hold completely to Panama in 1999.

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an early twentieth-century ad for model home blueprints