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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Due to continuing slides, the "total cube" of the cut steadily increases, until it appears necessary for the top of the cut to be how far wide to achieve a mathematically stable 1:4 ratio?

2. Which steamship company, established just prior to news of the discovery of gold in California reaches the East, receives a federal subsidy to carry the mail?

3. Gustave Eiffel eventually is able to clear his name, but what does he do afterward?

4. Ferdinand de Lesseps has declares publicly that 20 ships daily shall pass via the canal by 1890, and what occurs to the Compagnie Universelle on February 4, 1889?

5. Phillippe Banau-Varilla's Cincinnati civic speech of building a shorter, cheaper alternate to Nicaragua, glosses over mudslides, disease, his stock holdings, and adds what new theme to the debate?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is notable about the date of October 20, 1893?

2. What is the professional path for potential French civil engineers in the 19th-century?

3. Why is it that Ferdinand de Lesseps takes on doing the Suez Canal?

4. What does Ferdinand de Lesseps and those accompanying him encounter at Barbacoas?

5. What is the most important committee, and how does Ferdinand de Lesseps steer it?

6. What is the result of Gaston Blanchet's proposal for a 400' wide swath to ease surveying?

7. It is stated the Navy recalls 1850 because Lt. Isaac Strain and his party nearly perish trying to locate a path at Darien, yet what are other reasons beyond that?

8. What critical things transpire in regard to the French canal project in July 1886?

9. What are the reasons Admiral Ammen opposes the official U.S. plan?

10. As the Morgan Committee rejects the recommendations of the Walker Commission, what are the rumors that are circulating around Washington?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Panama Canal is built under three American presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Who can be given the most credit for U.S. success there? What actions or efforts, before, during, or after their time in office, substantiate your position in selecting one over the other two?

Essay Topic 2

David McCullough reports that the second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty is the most important of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. Why does Roosevelt disapprove of the initial treaty? How does he demonstrate his objections? Why does Roosevelt state he is "delighted" by the November 18, 1901 signing of the revised treaty?

Essay Topic 3

Things are not going well and Phillippe Banau-Varilla offers a solution to get out that David McCullough refers to as "ingenious." It brings tolls in and, more importantly, affords Ferdinand de Lesseps a means of honorably extracting himself. Why does he not take it? What is wrong with the suggestion? Does de Lesseps not have the authority he reflects?

(see the answer keys)

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