The Path Between the Seas Book Report Essay - 1540 Words

Lulu Stevens HST 143 Dr. Quirk 10/26/14 The Path Between the Seas By: David Mccullough David McCullough’s The Path Between Seas was printed in New York City, New York in the year 1977. The events regarding the Panama Canal as discussed in David McCullough’s The Path Between Seas allowed an impressive assertion of American power--the likes of which had never before been displayed. In it’s rich history, this novel offers recollections of failure on France’s part, American strength overcoming Columbian resistance, and triumphant success of medical care and engineering. During the late 1800s, France was an undeniable force in the engineering world. It would turn out, however, that America was the country which would†¦show more content†¦As it would turn out, the French didn’t exactly accomplish what they had hoped. A major loss in funds due to gross misuse and bribery and large casualties rendered the project a total bust. Many of the early deaths were of the brightest engineering graduates of the time. Exaggerated claim s of false progress kept the money flowing into the project, but before long the fraud was exposed. Only two-fifths of the canal had been dug after the French spent 2 years longer than they’d intended digging. De Lesseps’s reputation was destroyed; all assets the French had gathered were sold to the Americans for a measly $40 million. America--unlike their predecessors in the task--would learn from prior mistakes and have much better luck with this undertaking, eventually accomplishing the task. America would even defeat Columbian resistance and assist in developing a new country. After settling the close debate as to where the American’s wished to build their canal and purchasing the area under the 1903 Hay-Herran treaty, the U.S. needed only permission to unearth the ground. Colombia wasn’t too fond of the idea and thus rejected all of America’s efforts. Negotiations with the country went quite poorly as well. Arthur Beauprà © was chose to communicate with Colombia but negotiations continued to go poorly as, â€Å"he was frequently blunt, even dictatorial, in hisShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Great Hurricane of 19381590 Words   |  7 PagesEngland. In this essay I will argue that Washington’s Weather Bureau’s interpretation error gave the New England residents a false sense of security for the hurricane of 1938 by using three class readings and the book Sudden Sea by R.A. Scotti. In the reading â€Å"Genesis† from the book Divine Wind I have learned that most storms need a trigger to develop into a hurricane. An example of a believed trigger is the atmospheric disturbances known as African easterly waves. 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