The Effect of Canals on Global Transportation
Since the beginning of human existence, we have had the drive to explore and expand our territorial reach. We have used various tools and methods to extend our reach well beyond our global boundaries. Maritime exploration is one of the oldest methods that has been used as an exploration tool. To date, it is responsible for much of the world we know being connected in some form or fashion. As the world has grown, so has the infrastructure needed to support global growth. There have been key elements in maritime shipping, such as canals, that have led to even greater opportunities for not only exploration, but also trade and globalization.
The world is filled with canals and waterways that all play
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The same attempt made by the Egyptians was also being made by the Panamanians and Americans in collaborative effort to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Construction of the Panama Canal was decided on in 1906. It took about eight years to complete the canal, which is located on the Isthmus of Panama. The Canal was unofficially opened in 1940 and officially dedicated in 1920. The Panama Canal was opened for about twenty years, when the United States and Panama made agreement to make improvements on the canal that would allow for greater traffic influx. World War II would postpone construction of the new locks and also would postpone the business growth that had been increasing in the region. In 1955, annuity was raised and constructions on the new improvements were underway, but they did not allow for newer bigger vessels to pass through the canal. This would not be the last of improvements made on the Panama Canal, yet it was not the first time there had been set backs. Construction on the canal had seen its fair share of lows. The first efforts were ruined by small pox, malaria, yellow fever, tuberculosis, and cholera. The region was endemic with disease and mosquitoes were given the perfect breeding grounds to spread disease. Some 20,000 thousand workers died from disease, which greatly effected canal construction. (Grigsby, Darcy Grimaldo. "Panama Canal." …show more content…
The Panama Canal has been directly linked to the promotion of industry and infrastructure growth in our region. For years our south Texas region has thrived due to the improvements of the Houston Ship Channel. The ship channel was opened in 1914, to become one of the largest ports in the United States. Houston was already home to an extensive railroad system, which complemented the building of a channel that would allow ships an inland destination to deliver cargo. Given its location, the ship channel was also protected from bad coastal weather, and the discovery of oil in the region, meant it was perfect land for refineries. ("Houston, Texas." Encyclopedia of American Urban History. Ed. David Goldfield. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.) The 52-mile stretch of water was the first federal project to have local cost sharing. The first containership, Malcom McLean’s “Ideal X”, was unloaded in the Houston ship channel. In 1962, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected Houston as its headquarters. NASA made their decision based on the Houston Ship channel and its ability to transport the larger, bulky space vehicles. The ship channel has created global opportunity and advancements, that ahs moved the city of Houston into top national
David C. Humphrey, "AUSTIN, TX (TRAVIS COUNTY)," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hda03), accessed November 30, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Before any canals were even built, there was a great demand for better transportation to and from the west. During this time of exploration, something was necessary in order for settlement to progress. After the canals were built, people living in to north grew exceedingly wealthy from the trading benefits of the canals. This wealth would eventually create economic differences with the southern United States(Drago 178).
...dered the construction of the Panama Canal which connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Over the course of the Spanish-American war , the obvious need for a canal came apparent.The canal would stregthen the navy, and it would make easier defense of the islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The problem of where to build the canal came into play. Congress rejected Nicaragua and Panama was an unwilling part of this project. The course of the building was shifted to Colu...
Building a canal to connect the seas together wasn?t originally Roosevelt?s idea. The idea had been around since Spanish colonial times, but the United States took interest in the subject too as they expanded westward. In 1846 a treaty was signed granting the United States transit rights across the Isthmus of Panama, as long as they guaranteed neutrality in Panama and Columbia. In 1848, Great Britain and the United States had great interest in building the Nicaragua Canal, a route other than across the Isthmus of Panama. The Clayton-Buwler Treaty of 1850, in which Great Britain and the United States promised that any canal in Central America would be politically neutral, ended the rivalry between the two countries. Credit of the idea for building a canal can be given to Cornelius Vanderbilt. H realized he could make quite a profit from the canal. The United States found it imperative that they had control over a canal in Latin America, but did not know whether to build one in Nicaragua or Panama. Later, in 1878, a French company under Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was an ambitious man who built the Suez Canal, was grant...
The History of the Panama Canal The Panama Canal is called the big ditch, the bridge between two continents, and the greatest shortcut in the world. When it was finally finished in 1914, the 51-mile waterway cut off over 7,900 miles of the distance between New York and San Francisco, and changed the face of the industrialized world ("Panama Canal"). This Canal is not the longest, the widest, the deepest, or the oldest canal in the world, but it is the only canal to connect two oceans, and still today is the greatest man-made waterway in the world ("Panama Canal Connects). Ferdinand de Lesseps, who played a large role in building the Suez Canal in 1869 (Jones), was the director of the Compagnie Universelle Du Canal Interoceanique de Panama ("Historical Overview").
The development of canal, steam boats and railroads provided a transportation network that linked different regions of the nation together. When farmers began migrating westward and acquiring land for crops, cheaper forms of transportation provided the means to transfer their goods to other regions for s...
The greatest impacts that the Erie Canal had on America were a great increase in population, trade becoming a lot more common, but most importantly, much safer and easier travel.
“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” A wise quote from John A. Shedd. A boat is secure inside the harbor, but it is useless. Inside a harbor, a boat can’t traverse oceans, set wars in motion, or discover new lands. Figuratively, we, the people, are the ships, and our safe haven is our comfort zone. Without reaching out of your comfort zone, you can’t conquer your world. You can’t make a difference. You need take a risk. Leave your safe haven and explore.
The current size, inherent values, and economic status of the United States owes greatly to the paramount figures and events that took place during the Early National Period of the country. However, while there is no doubt that such events- and the figures behind them- were of great importance and have molded the country into the pristine product that it is today, the various construction projects of that time have gone largely unnoticed. Canals, being one of the most prominent advances in transportation, are prime examples of forgotten catalysts of the American nation. The construction of canals- particularly the Erie Canal- during the 19th century played a key role in the geographic, economic, and cultural development of the country by allowing an easier and faster mode of transport, and contributing greatly to the preservation of the Union during the Civil War.
“Houston was founded in 1836 by two brothers,” (World Book Encyclopedia pg. 394) John K. Allen and Augustus Allen. They bought 6,642 acres on which to build the great city. They decided to name the city after their friend Sam Houston. “He was a general that led the army that won Texas’s freedom from Mexico.” (Passionate Nation pg. 274) Sam Houston also became the first Texas president. The brothers built a capitol building; it was two stories tall and made completely out of wood. The Texas Congress moved from Colombia to the new capitol building. Within four months after Houston was founded, more than 1,500 people were living there. Once the city started growing, Houston became very famous for its popular port. The port sent goods to and received goods from all around the world. Sadly, in the 1900s a hurricane hit it. “Houston helped out in World War II. They helped with ship building, steel producing, and producing oil.” (visithoustontexas.com) Houston’s history is very rich and so is its culture.
The official name of Panama is the Republic of Panama or (República de Panamá). Panama is located on the narrowest and lowest part of the Isthmus of Panama that links North America and South America. This part of the isthmus is situated between 7° and 10° north latitude and 77° and 83° west longitude. Panama is slightly smaller than South Carolina, approximately 77,082 square kilometers.
Throughout the history of the earth we have seen many countries leave their homeland. Most of these countries however, are those that are not landlocked. Countries which were not landlocked organized themselves and set sail for new territories to explore. Boat technology allowed for travel, resulting in the whole world becoming more accessible and allowing people to overcome what was thought to be indestructible geography. Obviously access to the sea lowers transport costs and aids economic growth. Yet this mattered less in earlier centuries. Even in some ancient civilizations, they learned to overcome the problem of not having technology. The original silk route from China to Europe used the camel rather than the ship. Only when ship design became advanced from the 15th century onwards did sea-borne trade gain centre-stage.
In 1757 the first canal was built, it was called Sankey Cut, it went from St. Hellans to the river Mersy to let barges carry coal from Lancastershire mines to Liverpool. The Duke of Bridgewater built a canal to get coal from his colliery in Worsley to Manchester, a few km away. He employed an engineer (James Brindley) to do so. The Duke made a profit of £100,000 a year. James Brindleys most famouse canal was the Grand Trunk canal, it links the river Trent to the river mersy and runs through potteries, it was finished in 1777. By 1790, a canal network linked four major ports; Bristol, Liverpool, Hull and London.