America’s Monuments | A Passage Through Panama | 2

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For centuries, sailors and merchants dreamed of finding a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the narrow isthmus of Central America. But no natural passage existed. To get ships across the fifty-mile stretch of land, someone would have to dig a canal.

The French tried first, and failed. Then, in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt and the U.S. took on the challenge. Struggling against harsh weather, forbidding terrain and political turmoil, the United States would endeavor not just to build a canal – but to establish itself as a formidable international power in the new century.

Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/historytellers.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.4	Imagine it's 1887.
0:19.2	You're the foreman of a French construction company, ankle deep at a muddy ravine than
0:24.3	the southern mountain ranges of Panama.
0:26.6	It's your first week on the job, and it hasn't stopped raining once since you got here.
0:31.1	Well, you know, there's only nine more months of rain.
0:33.6	You just have to get used to it.
0:36.6	Friends, while your deputy has a gallows humor that's already starting to grate on you, I'll
0:41.3	tell them to move that dredging machine away from the ridge face.
0:44.1	All this rain's loosening the soil above.
0:46.5	Yes, sir.
0:47.8	For five years, your company has been trying to dig a canal across the isthmus of Panama,
0:53.2	trying to fulfill an age-old dream of connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific, and by
0:57.8	doing so, securing French control over the global shipping economy.
1:02.1	Look, you need to hurry.
1:05.2	Tell them to get a move on.
1:07.5	But everything is hard here.
1:09.5	Equipment is falling apart.
1:11.3	Disease ever-present.
1:13.4	Men are dying from malaria and yellow fever.
1:16.2	And just when you think the weather can't get worse, it does.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.