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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. Which delegate, so eager not to miss the 1879 Congris International d'Ytudes du Canal Interocyanique opening remarks, leaves his bags behind and has to purchase appropriate attire and call a barber in?

2. An initial stock offering after the1879 Congris International d'Ytudes du Canal Interocyanique goes poorly, so Ferdinand de Lesseps gives back investors' funds, has another issue offered, and declares what?

3. Ferdinand de Lesseps resells lottery bonds on Nov. 15, 1887, and says Gustave Eiffel will build two huge lock flights, gates, and apparatus to lift ships over the Chagres at flood stage that are what?

4. A huge dam taming the Chagres changes the slope, increasing the "cube" excavation by how much?

5. Which survivors enjoy lifelong immunity from the disease that comes and goes in waves?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ferdinand de Lesseps lose interest in the Suez Canal?

2. What increases the impetus to build a canal, and why?

3. What is Colon like, where Ferdinant de Lesseps' entourage begins their journey in Panama?

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

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

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

7. What are the essential elements, pros and cons, to A.G. Menocal's canal proposal?

8. How does the press report the situation three weeks subsequent to the fire destroying Colon?

9. What is the subtitle for Chapter 3, "Consensus of One," a reference to?

10. What do you find to be Ferdinand de Lesseps' most interesting characteristic and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author notes that, despite Theodore Roosevelt's opinion to the contrary, he comes out having played a minor part in Panama's revolution. Is there any evidence of collusion or master strategy in the White House? How much knowledge does the President have as the plot unfolds? Is the President correct in his view that the Colombian position regarding the treaty is nothing but a "holdup"? Could an amicable solution have been achieved in a reasonable time period? What of the position that Roosevelt's "most important action" ensures Colombia will be financially destroyed, being stripped of what is most valuable to it?

Essay Topic 2

David McCullough notes in his initial chapter that all early 19th-century canal plans are preposterous. Every survey is flawed due to assumptions and inaccurate data. Yet the Suez Canal was successfully opening on November 1869, after ten years of construction. It is twice as long as the Panama Canal, which did not open until 1914. Actual work on the Panama did not start until 1880, a decade following the Suez opening. Central America afforded at least 19 possible locations to select from. Explain what causes so many problems in constructing the Panama Canal. What took so long? Why was there such a lengthy battle in Washington? What caused the loss of so many lives?

Essay Topic 3

Chapter 3 shows that only Ferdinand de Lesseps's preconceived opinions and views matter at the 1879 Congris International d'Ytudes du Canal Interocyanique in Paris. Why does de Lesseps not hold a legitimate meeting? Would it still not have come down to Panama or Nicaragua, as it did in the debates years later in Walker vs. Morgan? He is definitely a "take charge" type, but why does he continuously shrug off critical facts presented to him? Why does his success not carry over to Panama?

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