Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort

Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort

This paper focuses on The Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort. Write a 3-page, double-space paper (plus cover page and bibliography) on the article entitled, “The Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort.”

The Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort

Write a 3-page, double-space paper (plus cover page and bibliography) on the article entitled, “The Panama Canal Project Failures of the French Effort.”

Additionally, use the course book and the resources attached for background information.  The paper will also be double-spaced, Times New Roman, font 12 with 4 citations. At the conclusion of the paper, describe ways that you can apply this information in your workspace.

More details;

French Panama Canal Failure (1881-1889)

Under the charismatic leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French attempted to construct a sea-level canal in Panama.  DeLesseps, who had been successful in building the Suez canal against all odds, assured everyone that building a canal in Panama would be easier to make than the Suez Canal.  However, after $287 million in expenditures and also more than 20,000 deaths, the French attempt failed. The debacle was blame on poor administration and corruption, but the main causes more likely were yellow fever and malaria.

 

Jules Dingler, Director General of the French Company, arrived in Panama with his wife, son, daughter and her fiancé in 1883. He ordered a mansion built for his family and also their imported horses, at an estimated cost of $100,000. Within a few months, his daughter died of yellow fever, followed by his son, his daughter’s fiancé. Finally, his wife. Broken in mind and spirit, Dingler shot his stallions and returned to France without ever having occupied his lavish home, known thereafter as
la follie a Dingler (Dingler’s folly).

Director General of Works and Chief Engineer Jules A. Dingler (sitting to the left with an umbrella) with a group of french engineers. Within a month after their arrival in Panama in 1886, thirteen of thirty enginners died, presumably of yellow fever. The Latin American Library, Tulane University.

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