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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. Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse sails back to New York in early 1879 to buy the Panama Railroad Company, but its president is the major stockholder with the leverage to demand what price?

2. Which organization is later described as representing the world's first "transcontinental" railroad?

3. Lieutenants Lucien Napoleon-Bonaparte Wyse and Armand Reclus plan a sea-level canal for Central America between Wyse's 1878 and 1879 visits to Washington, while Ferdinand de Lesseps does what?

4. Beyond maps and plans, what is Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse refused access to in 1878?

5. A sea-level canal built at Panama is just impossible, and using 1880s equipment, the lock canal approach maximizes what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In mid-November 1887, what sort of new locks does Ferdinand de Lesseps state Alexandre Gustava Eiffel will be designing and building?

4. Briefly, who is Edouard Drumont?

5. What does Ferdinand de Lesseps accomplish between the 1879 Congris International d'Ytudes du Canal Interocyanique in Paris and sailing for Panama in December that year?

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

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

8. What are the two routes U.S. proponents of a Central American canal fight for?

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

10. What does the swindler Cornelius Herz do before he flees to France?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The cream of France's engineering programs in the 19th century reportedly looks down their noses at Americans in that field. Yet they do not adapt well in Panama as they did in Egypt ten years earlier. Why is this so? Why are they unable to habituate as the Americans eventually will later? Is it fair to attribute their difficulty to acclimatize to snobbishness as David McCullough suggests?

Essay Topic 2

When the seven-headed ICC is replaced with a three-member version, it is chaired by Theodore Perry Shonts. How effective is the ICC's new chairman? What actions does he take to ensure success? Does he abide by the rules? What successes does he achieve? What failures does he encounter?

Essay Topic 3

William Nelson Cromwell locates and talks John Stevens into replacing John Wallace. What type of training, schooling, and experience does Stevens have? What successes has he enjoyed? Who is supporting him? What sort of leadership does he exercise? What takes place when he moves the engineering office to Culebra? What successes does Stevens achieve? What failures does he endure? Why is Stevens replaced?

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