Panama: The Golden Isthmus

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Ferdinand de Lesseps depicted as Hercules separating the two continents. Riding a wave of public adulation after his triumph at Suez, de Lesseps had the charisma and force of will to make the Panama dream a reality.

The beginning of the ‘big ditch’. The French aimed to build a sea-level canal, but massively underestimated the task ahead.

A French ladder excavator. The machines that had triumphed at Suez proved unable to cope with the heavy clays of the Chagres valley. Most work had to be carried out by hand, and soon the labourers were dying in their thousands.

With the press running for cover, the directors of the Canal Company, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, are brought to trial. Eiffel brings up the rear. The collapse of the canal company led to a fever of recriminations in France.