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The American Triumph
(click on photos to enlarge)
'You here who are doing your work well in bringing
to completion this great enterprise are standing exactly
as a soldier of the few great wars of the world's history.
This is one of the great works of the world'
President Theodore Roosevelt to the American canal workforce,
1906 |
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In a cartoon published
six days afterwards, the New York World gives
its impression of the ‘Panama Revolution’.
The United States’ bullying and aggression
over the canal sowed a long legacy of distrust and
fear. |
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A steamer
carrying labourers from Barbados arrives at Colón.
The tiny island provided the bulk of the thousands
of workers for the American Panama Canal effort.
Treated as cheap and expendable by the Americans,
the West Indians were also subjected to racial segregation. |
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At 4.30p.m. on 20
May 1913, working at the final depth of the canal,
shovels No. 222 and No. 230 meet ‘nose to nose’ at
the centre of the Cut. |
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The opening of the canal:
S.S. Ancon passes the remnants of the Cucaracha slide
on 15 August 1914. Landslides came close to wrecking
the American effort. |
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The U.S.S.
Texas in Gatún Locks in July 1919, a sight
that would have pleased Roosevelt enormously. The
military requirements of the United States were instrumental
in getting the canal built. |
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© Matthew Parker
2007 Back
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