Teddy Roosevelt's Panama Canal: Good or Bad For the World at Large?

[Frigga]

Was Theodore Roosevelt's Panama Canal a good thing or a bad thing? Please explain your stance.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I'd say yes, it cut down on the ship travel time by a huge amount, so that they no longer had to go all the way around South America. Transportation usually requires some sort of government intervention, since you need a lot of land in a more or less straight line.

[Loki]

It was an inevitability.

[Equinox]

"Good or Bad For the World at Large?" is never something I would ask of any governments actions.

[Octothorpe]

Increased trade leads to overall increased wealth in the countries participating in said trade; wealthy nations tend to take better care of their citizens, in general. So, any instrumentality that increases trade increases wealth, which in turn increases the general welfare. I'd say the Panama Canal was a good thing, despite it's governmental origins. And, being male, I'm fascinated by Damned Big Things! :D

[Psychonaut]

A good thing, in and of itself? Sure. A good use of taxpayer dollars? A good reason for us to become intertwined with foreign powers? Perhaps not.

[Loxias]

Helped globalisation. Good? Or bad?

[SwordoftheVistula]

Helped globalisation.

No more than say, the invention of the steam engine, the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, or the automobile.

[Albion]

Yes, but the Suez was better.

[Leadchucker]

Probably saved many ships and lives as the navigation of Cape Horn with it's treacherous weather and seas was no longer needed.

[Albion]

Probably saved many ships and lives as the navigation of Cape Horn with it's treacherous weather and seas was no longer needed.

Yeah, the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego lost a good industry though.

[Supreme American]

"Good or Bad For the World at Large?" is never something I would ask of any governments actions.

Governments do what is best for that country. They are not planetary benefactors.

[Supreme American]

Helped globalisation. Good? Or bad?

If that were the case, we'd have to condemn every modern innovation. Everything is abused in some manner or another.

[GeistFaust]

It was a good thing for Americans, who were expanding quite broadly in the context of boundaries, which necessitated they found greater ways of getting their exports and imports around the world around.


It was Alfred Mahan who also advocated that the Panama Canal be secured as an important area to secure Naval power for the U.S.


It would allow them a quicker access to controlling the Pacific, without having to traverse all around the tip of South America. In total it had more benefits than negative side effects, especially for America.

[Geminus]

Wasn't the Panama Canal the reason for the Japanese building even larger battleships, so the Americans would build equally large ships that couldn't cross the Canal?

[Albion]

It's quite interesting to note that America's best ally in the region, Colombia lost Panama (a former province) partly due to US pressure to get the canal constructed.