I just posted this essay to my APUSH class web page. I also made the joke that you must be auditing the class-we just talked about this last Thursday! De Lesseps also has to get some credit for "selling" Panama as a better alternative for a canal than Nicaragua, while Gorgas' research and success on mitigating yellow fever and malaria kept people from dying in mass numbers during construction. (Thanks David McCullough for your book!) Have a great day-thanks for these essays.
Professor Brands,
I just posted this essay to my APUSH class web page. I also made the joke that you must be auditing the class-we just talked about this last Thursday! De Lesseps also has to get some credit for "selling" Panama as a better alternative for a canal than Nicaragua, while Gorgas' research and success on mitigating yellow fever and malaria kept people from dying in mass numbers during construction. (Thanks David McCullough for your book!) Have a great day-thanks for these essays.
As a Panamanian, I think a bit more nuance is due. Here is an article from FEE. https://fee.org/articles/how-wall-street-created-a-nation-j-p-morgan-teddy-roosevelt-and-the-panama-canal/
I agree that the story is more complicated than this account from TR's perspective allows.