Panama Canal: Building the 8th Wonder of the World

Through the use of hands-on historical documents, many photographs, old newspapers, treaties, telegrams, letters, health records, and maps, this primary source portfolio explores the trials and tribulations of building the Panama Canal and why it still so important today. The Broadsheets and documents address the problems presented by landslides, mechanical failures, yellow fever, malaria, revolution, and political intrigue. The fascinating maps and photographs will intrigue and impress your students. This portfolio includes a Study Guide with reproducible student activities. 5 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * Early Quests to Build a Water Passage through the Isthmus * The U.S. Gains the Rights to Construct a Canal across Panama * Conquering Malaria and Yellow Fever * More than Digging a Big "Ditch" and Filling It with Water * Four Great Engineering and Construction Challenges 14 Primary Source Documents: * Map of routes investigated from Tehuantepec to Colombia for an interoceanic ship canal, ca. 1899 * Correspondence regarding the advantages of a Nicaragua Canal, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, 1899 * Acknowledgement of receipt in Nicaragua of five complete "camp outfits," March 16, 1900 * Signature page of Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed November 18, 1903 * Political cartoon showing the war on rats, ca. 1907 * Voucher for passage of laborers from Barbados, along with a photograph of arriving laborers, 1909 * Photo album: "Building the 8th Wonder of the World, 1904-1914" * Isthmian Canal Commission personal injury record, April-July 1911 * Photo-poster: "Life in the Canal Zone" * Canal Record, August 19, 1914 * Historical post cards from the Canal Zone * Pacific Mail Steamship Company schedule, July 19, 1922 * Map of Canal Zone and vicinity, U.S. Army map service, 1927, with updates through 1967 * Letter from President Carter to Congressmen regarding Panama Canal Treaties and a summary of the treaties, August 12, 1977