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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. French engineers at Panama look on American colleagues as merely adroit at improvisation, but find making do with what is available under pressure difficult and that Suez was too easy, as warned by whom?

2. After leaving the bottom lands of Panama in late 1879, while en route to Panama City, the Ferdinand de Lesseps entourage follow what river toward the summit at Culebra?

3. Who rebuilds Colon after it goes up in flames, killing 18 and leaving some 8,000 homeless?

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

5. Whom is Ferdinand de Lesseps hailed as second only to upon his arrival in Panama with his associates in late 1879?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How do the French account for 1/3 of all their canal digging?

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

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

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

6. In Chapter 1 of his book, David McCullough views a number of expeditions that were made in Central America in the early 19th-century looking for the ideal route, but what did he find as common to every canal proposal?

7. Who is Rear Adm. John Grimes Walker?

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

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

10. How is the work organized under the French?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ferdinand de Lesseps begins publishing his "Bullet in du Canal Interocyanique" and George W. Goethals his "Canal Record. How are they alike? How do they differ? Are they merely propaganda organs, or is there some legitimacy to them? How effective is each?

Essay Topic 2

No scandal in France surrounding the liquidation of Compagnie Universelle reportedly would have taken place except for Ydouard Drumont's publication of "La France Juive" in 1886. What is it about these articles that caused such a commotion? Are the allegations therein true? Why is there no previous complaint? Is there any connection between his writings and his imprisonment for libel?

Essay Topic 3

What is social life like in the Canal Zone in the latter half of the construction period? Has the war on pestilence and disease been effective? What is offered to prompt individuals to come to Panama, or bring their families? What is the cost of living in Panama like? What social events are available to employees after work hours?

(see the answer keys)

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