The Path Between the Seas | Short Question Answer Key

Short Answer Key

Book 1, Chapter 1

1. In which book does the author urge no action be taken prior to experts first comparing the pros and cons of all potential routes in connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?

Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Span.

2. In what way does author David McCullough find all early 19th-century canal plans preposterous?

Every survey is flawed by inaccurate data and bad assumptions.

3. The United States is granted exclusive right of transit across the Isthmus of Panama upon the signing of what document with Colombia in 1846?

The Bidlack Treaty.

4. What are the three main routes from the East to the West coasts of the U.S. in January of 1848, when gold is discovered in California?

Across the North American continent, east around the Horn of Africa, and over the Isthmus of Panama.

5. Which steamship company, established just prior...
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