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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. In the fall of 1902 as discussions of Canal Zone sovereignty reach a critical point, civil war erupts on the Isthmus and Theodore Roosevelt takes what action?

2. Manuel Amador looking to improve sanitation and end centuries of plague, invests what amount of U.S. $10 million payment into urgent public works projects?

3. What is the focus of attention in the final stages?

4. Why is marriage encouraged in the Canal Zone?

5. For American tourists crowding trains, as impressive as they find the Gatun Dam, locks, and Culebra Cut, what gives them the greatest patriotic pride?

Short Essay Questions

1. What critical event can be associated with Theodore Roosevelt and the date of January 4, 1904?

2. What is the social life like in Panama for canal workers during Goethals' time?

3. Rather than shutting the project down, what are some of the thing implemented by the authoritative new chairman of the ICC, Theodore Perry Shonts?

4. How is it the U.S. must come to grips with Article 35 of the Bidack Treaty in regard to Panama?

5. What is traffic like following opening of the canal?

6. What is Panama's social structure like?

7. Where does David McCullough get his subtitle for Chapter 12?

8. What does George Washington Goethals do after the canal is completed?

9. What is it about May 4, 1904, that makes it a significant date in the history of the Canal Zone?

10. Which of the three presidents that the Panama Canal is built under is most crucial to it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 3

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?

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