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(clock ticking)
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00:00:05,730 --> 00:00:08,230
- There's this one lake
in Central America that,
3
00:00:08,230 --> 00:00:09,800
if you look closely enough,
4
00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,400
you're gonna see the tops
of trees in the lake.
5
00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,480
And these, these are not islands.
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00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:16,833
These are hilltops.
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This all used to be a
dense jungle, not a lake.
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But then they built dams and
all sorts of infrastructure
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to flood this forest, all
in the name of solving
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00:00:29,300 --> 00:00:31,687
a centuries-old puzzle, which was,
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00:00:31,687 --> 00:00:33,507
"How do we make it faster and easier
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"to travel between here and here,
13
00:00:36,177 --> 00:00:37,327
"even in spite of the fact
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"that you have two massive continents
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"blocking any waterway?"
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But there was hope,
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00:00:42,470 --> 00:00:45,840
if you look down here at this
one thin stretch of land.
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00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,460
Here it's only 80 kilometers across,
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and it looked so easy to
just cut a waterway into it.
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00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:53,513
No.
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Turns out, that puzzle was not easy.
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(suspenseful music)
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This little 80 kilometer strip of land
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proved to be really hard to cut through,
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00:01:03,010 --> 00:01:05,950
but as long as international
trade continued to grow,
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00:01:05,950 --> 00:01:09,530
there continued to be great
powers looking for new waterways
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00:01:09,530 --> 00:01:12,670
to shorten their routes and
to increase their power,
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00:01:12,670 --> 00:01:15,610
for whoever controls
the water has the power.
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And these great powers always focused
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on this narrow stretch of land,
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from the Spanish in the 14th century
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to the Scottish in the 15th.
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But then, the most earnest and
serious attempt was in 1880,
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when this guy, a French
engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps,
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shows up and is like, "Hey, I got this."
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He had just completed
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another big world-changing
canal over here.
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He was feeling very
confident, and he's like,
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"Yup, I'm your guy.
40
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"Let's build another canal.
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"It'll be easy.
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"We'll just dig down to sea
level and re-route the river,
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"like we did in Egypt with the Suez Canal
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"and it'll be great and I'll be famous."
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But listen, de Lesseps,
Egypt is a flat desert
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and Panama is not.
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These mountains that you wanna dig through
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are well above sea level.
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00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,990
So if you wanna dig down to
sea level to make a flat canal,
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it's not gonna be easy.
51
00:02:05,340 --> 00:02:08,220
Meanwhile, another French
engineer comes to de Lesseps
52
00:02:08,220 --> 00:02:09,737
and he's like, "Dude,
this isn't gonna work.
53
00:02:09,737 --> 00:02:11,197
"It's way too much digging.
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00:02:11,197 --> 00:02:13,947
"Instead of bringing the
mountains down to sea level,
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00:02:13,947 --> 00:02:17,460
"what you need to do is bring
the sea up to the mountains."
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And in a moment of
collaborative creativity,
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de Lesseps admits that he was wrong
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00:02:22,350 --> 00:02:25,160
and begins construction
based on the new plans,
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00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,460
and then he promotes this guy
as the head of engineering
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00:02:27,460 --> 00:02:28,940
and says, "Great idea."
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00:02:28,940 --> 00:02:30,267
No, de Lesseps was like,
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"Bring the ocean up to the mountains?
63
00:02:33,237 --> 00:02:34,387
"That sounds stupid.
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00:02:34,387 --> 00:02:35,247
"Screw you.
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"I'm the famous one.
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"The canal is going to be at sea level,
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"just like we did with the Suez Canal."
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So the French start digging.
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00:02:42,180 --> 00:02:43,510
Well, actually it wasn't the French.
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00:02:43,510 --> 00:02:45,640
It was a ton of poorly
paid migrant workers
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who were doing the digging,
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hacking away at the jungle with machetes
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and then digging by hand with
pickaxes in sweltering heat,
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knee deep in sitting water,
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00:02:54,370 --> 00:02:56,380
which is heaven for, you guessed it,
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disease infested mosquitoes,
which is terrible news.
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00:02:59,610 --> 00:03:02,020
But luckily, de Lesseps the engineer
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00:03:02,020 --> 00:03:04,730
was always there in the
trenches with his workers,
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wielding a pickax alongside his people.
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00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:08,710
Yeah, no, of course he wasn't.
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He was just hanging out in France,
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only visiting Panama twice
over the course of seven years
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to just check in on the project.
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And what he realized when he showed up
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seven years into this digging
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is that things were going horribly.
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People were dying, 40 or 50 a day.
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All in all, 20 thousand workers died
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trying to dig this canal.
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Thousands died from disease and accidents,
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and we will never know their names.
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00:03:32,140 --> 00:03:33,610
And it's not just that people are dying,
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it's that the digging
isn't working either.
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00:03:36,090 --> 00:03:37,520
They would do a bunch of digging one day,
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and then the next day,
the rain would bring in
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all of the mud that they
just dug back into the canal.
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00:03:43,070 --> 00:03:45,640
So de Lesseps shows up,
realizes this is happening
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and is like, "This is not working.
99
00:03:47,777 --> 00:03:50,460
"Is there another way to dig this canal?"
100
00:03:50,460 --> 00:03:52,997
And then he has a flashback
to seven years earlier.
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"Bring the sea up to the mountains."
102
00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:56,233
And he's like,
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00:03:56,233 --> 00:03:57,827
"Oh yeah, that was actually
a really good idea.
104
00:03:57,827 --> 00:04:01,210
"My bad, we actually are gonna
do that other plan instead."
105
00:04:01,210 --> 00:04:02,450
But no, it was too late.
106
00:04:02,450 --> 00:04:03,770
The investors were done.
107
00:04:03,770 --> 00:04:05,470
They had lost way too much money.
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00:04:05,470 --> 00:04:06,870
20 thousand people were dead,
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00:04:06,870 --> 00:04:09,150
malaria and yellow fever were rampant.
110
00:04:09,150 --> 00:04:10,520
This was a fatal project.
111
00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,530
So the company that owned all of this work
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00:04:12,530 --> 00:04:16,100
had to abandon it and leave
it unfinished in 1889.
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Everyone gave up and left,
114
00:04:17,730 --> 00:04:21,450
except for one of the top
engineers on the project,
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this guy.
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00:04:22,283 --> 00:04:23,570
I'm just gonna call him Philippe,
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00:04:23,570 --> 00:04:25,690
'cause after researching
him for many days,
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00:04:25,690 --> 00:04:27,780
I now feel like I'm on a
first name basis with him.
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00:04:27,780 --> 00:04:30,300
And by the way, he becomes
a giant part of the story,
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starting now.
121
00:04:31,650 --> 00:04:34,350
So Philippe was this French
engineer and businessman,
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00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:36,410
and he was obsessed with the canal.
123
00:04:36,410 --> 00:04:39,090
He also had a huge financial
stake in the project,
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00:04:39,090 --> 00:04:40,507
and where some investors would say,
125
00:04:40,507 --> 00:04:44,260
"Darn, too bad, we invested
in a bad bet, let's move on."
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00:04:44,260 --> 00:04:47,447
Philippe was like, "No, I
will do whatever it takes
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00:04:47,447 --> 00:04:49,500
"to make sure that this is not a failure."
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00:04:49,500 --> 00:04:52,090
And what happens next is one
of the most insane things
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00:04:52,090 --> 00:04:55,288
I have ever researched in my
entire life, so buckle up.
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00:04:55,288 --> 00:04:56,220
(intriguing music)
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- [Newscaster] The winds of
change is blowing up a gale
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00:04:58,314 --> 00:05:00,510
in the Panama Canal zone.
133
00:05:00,510 --> 00:05:02,030
- Okay, so let's get some
context really quick.
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00:05:02,030 --> 00:05:03,930
It's 1900 at this point.
135
00:05:03,930 --> 00:05:06,160
The US is really starting to get a handle
136
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,650
on this whole Imperialism
thing that they've been doing.
137
00:05:08,650 --> 00:05:10,520
They just fabricated a war with Spain,
138
00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,230
which led them to conquer the Philippines,
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00:05:12,230 --> 00:05:13,690
Guam and Puerto Rico.
140
00:05:13,690 --> 00:05:16,060
They'd just overthrown
Hawaii's government.
141
00:05:16,060 --> 00:05:18,870
They annexed Wake Island
and American Samoa.
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00:05:18,870 --> 00:05:21,027
They're like, "Dude, this
overseas empire thing
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00:05:21,027 --> 00:05:23,080
"is kinda working out for us."
144
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,050
The President at the
time was Teddy Roosevelt,
145
00:05:26,050 --> 00:05:28,090
who we've seen in previous episodes,
146
00:05:28,090 --> 00:05:29,800
and Teddy is looking around this region
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00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,120
that the US is increasingly taking over,
148
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,210
and he sees an opportunity
to dramatically increase
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00:05:35,210 --> 00:05:37,380
the naval power of the United States,
150
00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:40,727
if they could just unite the
Atlantic and the Pacific.
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00:05:40,727 --> 00:05:42,680
"It's time to build a canal", says Teddy.
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00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,930
So of course they looked
somewhere in Central America,
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00:05:44,930 --> 00:05:47,200
and the original plan that
the US wanted to pursue
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was to build a canal not in Panama,
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00:05:49,310 --> 00:05:50,980
but here in Nicaragua.
156
00:05:50,980 --> 00:05:54,010
It wasn't the shortest
stretch of land in this area,
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00:05:54,010 --> 00:05:55,270
but there was a huge lake here,
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which would cut down on the digging,
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00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:58,040
and it just made a lot of sense.
160
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,190
So they started doing
surveys and making plans
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00:06:00,190 --> 00:06:02,200
to build a canal in Nicaragua.
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00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,830
Meanwhile, Philippe the
Frenchman is still down here
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at his failed project,
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and he's seen the US become
interested in the canal,
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00:06:09,860 --> 00:06:12,800
and he's like, "This is
my moment of vindication."
166
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,797
So he goes to the US
Congress and he's like,
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00:06:14,797 --> 00:06:17,357
"Hey guys, I know you're
looking at Nicaragua,
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00:06:17,357 --> 00:06:18,887
"you've been doing all this site planning
169
00:06:18,887 --> 00:06:21,087
"and surveys and stuff, but guess what?
170
00:06:21,087 --> 00:06:24,097
"Right next to this proposed
site for your canal,
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"there are volcanoes.
172
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"Big, scary, belching volcanoes.
173
00:06:28,557 --> 00:06:31,227
"And one of them just erupted around here,
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"sort of next to your site."
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00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:36,300
Nicaragua even had a
postage stamp that featured
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one of these nearby volcanoes erupting.
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So the Frenchman goes
around to the US Senators
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and distributes this
postage stamp and says,
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00:06:44,417 --> 00:06:47,067
"Look, scary volcanoes in Nicaragua.
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"Don't build your canal here
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"or they'll be destroyed
by lava or something."
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00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:52,710
And guess what?
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00:06:52,710 --> 00:06:54,090
It totally worked.
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00:06:54,090 --> 00:06:58,150
The US Senate got cold feet
about their Nicaragua canal plan
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00:06:58,150 --> 00:07:00,917
and they're like, "Uh, we're
not gonna do this anymore.
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00:07:00,917 --> 00:07:02,360
"Let's find another place to build it."
187
00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,287
And Philippe is like,
188
00:07:03,287 --> 00:07:05,257
"Oh my gosh, I can't
believe that just worked.
189
00:07:05,257 --> 00:07:06,840
"Stamps with volcanoes?"
190
00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:07,977
He's all giddy, and he's like,
191
00:07:07,977 --> 00:07:10,727
"Hmm, I wonder where there
would be a good place
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00:07:10,727 --> 00:07:12,127
"to build a canal.
193
00:07:12,127 --> 00:07:14,217
"Oh, wait a minute, why not Panama?
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00:07:14,217 --> 00:07:17,127
"We the French already did a
ton of work to get you started.
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00:07:17,127 --> 00:07:19,257
"Why don't you just pick
up where we left off?
196
00:07:19,257 --> 00:07:22,067
"We'll sell you all of our
gear, all of our stuff.
197
00:07:22,067 --> 00:07:23,100
"It'll be a great deal."
198
00:07:23,100 --> 00:07:26,780
And the US is like, "But isn't
Panama a part of Colombia?"
199
00:07:26,780 --> 00:07:28,420
And yes indeed, at the time,
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00:07:28,420 --> 00:07:30,490
Panama was actually a part of Colombia.
201
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It was not an independent country.
202
00:07:31,740 --> 00:07:33,077
So the United States Congress is like,
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00:07:33,077 --> 00:07:34,157
"Okay, listen Philippe.
204
00:07:34,157 --> 00:07:36,877
"We will buy you out of your canal project
205
00:07:36,877 --> 00:07:38,077
"that you clearly failed on,
206
00:07:38,077 --> 00:07:40,417
"but we will only do it
if we can get approval
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00:07:40,417 --> 00:07:43,170
"from Colombia, who
literally owns this land."
208
00:07:43,170 --> 00:07:44,487
And Philippe is secretly like,
209
00:07:44,487 --> 00:07:48,037
"Uh, there's no way that
Colombia is going to go for this.
210
00:07:48,037 --> 00:07:49,367
"They're gonna reject the plan
211
00:07:49,367 --> 00:07:51,127
"and then the US is gonna back out
212
00:07:51,127 --> 00:07:52,607
"and I'm gonna lose all my money
213
00:07:52,607 --> 00:07:54,120
"and I have to make this happen."
214
00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,140
Philippe was very
serious about this canal.
215
00:07:56,140 --> 00:07:58,980
So this is where Philippe
starts to get really conniving
216
00:07:58,980 --> 00:08:01,340
to pull out all the stops
to get the canal built.
217
00:08:01,340 --> 00:08:03,710
So he goes to the people who live
218
00:08:03,710 --> 00:08:06,557
in the region of Colombia
called Panama, and he says,
219
00:08:06,557 --> 00:08:08,517
"Hey guys, I know you've
sorta been wanting
220
00:08:08,517 --> 00:08:11,517
"to be independent from
Colombia for a long time.
221
00:08:11,517 --> 00:08:13,597
"Bogota is so far away,
they don't care about you.
222
00:08:13,597 --> 00:08:14,957
"You could be your own country.
223
00:08:14,957 --> 00:08:18,167
"What if I, a French
engineer, could guarantee
224
00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:20,637
"your independence without a bloody war?
225
00:08:20,637 --> 00:08:22,247
"Just leave the details to me.
226
00:08:22,247 --> 00:08:25,350
"Make me your ambassador and
I will make this happen."
227
00:08:25,350 --> 00:08:27,740
And the Panamanians are like,
"But dude, you're French."
228
00:08:27,740 --> 00:08:29,667
And he's like, "Yeah yeah
yeah, but you're Colombian,
229
00:08:29,667 --> 00:08:33,047
"so why don't we team up in
the name of creating Panama,
230
00:08:33,047 --> 00:08:34,010
"a new country?"
231
00:08:34,010 --> 00:08:35,477
And they were like, "Okay fine, Philippe.
232
00:08:35,477 --> 00:08:37,557
"You're our representative,
our ambassador now.
233
00:08:37,557 --> 00:08:38,626
"Just give us the signal
234
00:08:38,626 --> 00:08:40,526
"when we should rise up
for our independence,
235
00:08:40,527 --> 00:08:41,727
"but you promise to make sure
236
00:08:41,727 --> 00:08:44,820
"that Colombia's not gonna come
in and quell our uprising."
237
00:08:44,820 --> 00:08:47,267
And Philippe's like, "Yeah yeah
yeah, I'll take care of it."
238
00:08:48,110 --> 00:08:50,190
Okay, before we keep
going with this story,
239
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278
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279
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280
00:10:16,130 --> 00:10:18,470
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281
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282
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That link will be in my description.
283
00:10:21,550 --> 00:10:24,010
Now let's get back to the Panama Canal.
284
00:10:24,010 --> 00:10:26,770
So Philippe is now the
ambassador of the Panamanians,
285
00:10:26,770 --> 00:10:28,260
who are not a country yet,
286
00:10:28,260 --> 00:10:30,270
but he's still hoping
that maybe the Colombians
287
00:10:30,270 --> 00:10:31,600
will approve the plan.
288
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,850
Philippe sort of has
this in his back pocket,
289
00:10:33,850 --> 00:10:36,370
this deal that he just
made with the Panamanians.
290
00:10:36,370 --> 00:10:38,060
He doesn't know if he has to use it yet.
291
00:10:38,060 --> 00:10:39,410
But back to the Americans
292
00:10:39,410 --> 00:10:42,570
having to ask Colombia for
approval to build their canal.
293
00:10:42,570 --> 00:10:44,707
Sure enough, they show
up and Colombia's like,
294
00:10:44,707 --> 00:10:46,497
"No, go home.
295
00:10:46,497 --> 00:10:48,647
"You guys are way too
aggressive around here lately.
296
00:10:48,647 --> 00:10:49,697
"We're not interested.
297
00:10:49,697 --> 00:10:51,250
"No canal, see you later."
298
00:10:51,250 --> 00:10:53,077
So the US goes to Philippe and they say,
299
00:10:53,077 --> 00:10:54,647
"Sorry bro, the deal is off.
300
00:10:54,647 --> 00:10:55,857
"Colombia said no.
301
00:10:55,857 --> 00:10:58,357
"We said we'd only do
this if Colombia said yes.
302
00:10:58,357 --> 00:11:00,610
"After all, Panama is a part of Colombia."
303
00:11:00,610 --> 00:11:02,847
And Philippe is like, "Wait, hold on.
304
00:11:02,847 --> 00:11:04,017
"I have a plan for this.
305
00:11:04,017 --> 00:11:05,897
"I've been talking to the Panamanians
306
00:11:05,897 --> 00:11:08,267
"and they want to break
away from Colombia,
307
00:11:08,267 --> 00:11:10,437
"and they made me their ambassador.
308
00:11:10,437 --> 00:11:12,077
"I've even written them a new Constitution
309
00:11:12,077 --> 00:11:14,000
"and designed them a new flag."
310
00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:15,667
Wait, Philippe, are
you a graphic designer?
311
00:11:15,667 --> 00:11:17,967
"No, but I designed them a flag anyway.
312
00:11:17,967 --> 00:11:20,667
"We can still make this
canal thing happen.
313
00:11:20,667 --> 00:11:23,547
"All I need you guys to do
is show up with your navy
314
00:11:23,547 --> 00:11:25,097
"to make sure that the Panamanians
315
00:11:25,097 --> 00:11:26,717
"can rise up for independence
316
00:11:26,717 --> 00:11:29,280
"without Colombia coming
to shut it all down."
317
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:30,317
And the US Congress is like,
318
00:11:30,317 --> 00:11:32,350
"Dude, you're nuts, see you later."
319
00:11:32,350 --> 00:11:36,050
But out of nowhere, the
President at the time shows up
320
00:11:36,050 --> 00:11:39,457
and is like, "Did somebody say
stage a theatrical revolution
321
00:11:39,457 --> 00:11:42,260
"to take over more land and
increase American power?"
322
00:11:42,260 --> 00:11:43,820
Teddy was back on the scene.
323
00:11:43,820 --> 00:11:45,230
Teddy loves this kind of stuff.
324
00:11:45,230 --> 00:11:48,067
He loves the sort of backroom deals,
325
00:11:48,067 --> 00:11:51,770
"Let's not ask for permission,
let's ask for forgiveness."
326
00:11:51,770 --> 00:11:54,310
This is Teddy Roosevelt's sweet spot.
327
00:11:54,310 --> 00:11:56,190
So Philippe has all of his ducks in a row.
328
00:11:56,190 --> 00:11:58,050
He's got Teddy Roosevelt on his side,
329
00:11:58,050 --> 00:12:00,030
he has Panamanians who
just gave him approval
330
00:12:00,030 --> 00:12:01,470
to be their ambassador,
331
00:12:01,470 --> 00:12:03,050
and he's like, "Let's do this."
332
00:12:03,050 --> 00:12:06,290
So in November 1903,
Philippe gives the nod
333
00:12:06,290 --> 00:12:08,030
to the Panamanians to rise up,
334
00:12:08,030 --> 00:12:10,250
to take over and declare
themselves independent.
335
00:12:10,250 --> 00:12:12,970
And at the same time, he
signals to Teddy Roosevelt
336
00:12:12,970 --> 00:12:15,300
to send in their big gun boats
337
00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:17,120
to sit off the coast of Panama
338
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,830
to block Colombia from
sending in reinforcements
339
00:12:19,830 --> 00:12:22,370
to put down this revolution
by the Panamanians.
340
00:12:22,370 --> 00:12:25,367
And so Colombia is
like, "Oh fine, take it.
341
00:12:25,367 --> 00:12:26,587
"F you, America.
342
00:12:26,587 --> 00:12:28,577
"You guys played real dirty there, okay?
343
00:12:28,577 --> 00:12:29,417
"You know that?
344
00:12:29,417 --> 00:12:30,540
"That was not cool."
345
00:12:30,540 --> 00:12:32,640
So just as Philippe orchestrated,
346
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,940
Panama declares independence,
347
00:12:34,940 --> 00:12:36,760
and Philippe is the ambassador.
348
00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,150
The US is the first to
recognize them as a new country,
349
00:12:40,150 --> 00:12:42,787
and Teddy Roosevelt's
like, "That was thrilling!
350
00:12:42,787 --> 00:12:44,070
"Now what, Philippe?"
351
00:12:44,070 --> 00:12:46,407
So Philippe is like, "Let's
make a deal, America.
352
00:12:46,407 --> 00:12:49,047
"I'm the official
representative of Panama now,
353
00:12:49,047 --> 00:12:51,097
"as per my agreement with the Panamanians,
354
00:12:51,097 --> 00:12:53,990
"so let's write a treaty
on behalf of Panama."
355
00:12:53,990 --> 00:12:55,340
So he travels to the United States
356
00:12:55,340 --> 00:12:56,550
and starts working on a treaty
357
00:12:56,550 --> 00:12:58,320
between the United States and Panama
358
00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,410
that would give the USA
the rights and sovereignty
359
00:13:01,410 --> 00:13:04,140
over this strip of land to build a canal.
360
00:13:04,140 --> 00:13:06,130
I mean, this series of events is insane.
361
00:13:06,130 --> 00:13:07,760
France fails to build a canal,
362
00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,060
so one French dude, an engineer,
363
00:13:10,060 --> 00:13:11,610
tries to redeem the whole thing
364
00:13:11,610 --> 00:13:15,330
by convincing the US to change
the location of their canal,
365
00:13:15,330 --> 00:13:16,830
and then creates a revolution
366
00:13:16,830 --> 00:13:20,010
and convinces the US to
help back that revolution,
367
00:13:20,010 --> 00:13:22,830
so that he, a Frenchman,
can be the ambassador
368
00:13:22,830 --> 00:13:25,060
of the newly created country of Panama,
369
00:13:25,060 --> 00:13:28,040
and make a deal with the US.
370
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:29,450
Whoa, Philippe.
371
00:13:29,450 --> 00:13:31,980
He was the one man band lobbyist
372
00:13:31,980 --> 00:13:35,050
who somehow finagled this whole situation.
373
00:13:35,050 --> 00:13:37,430
So Philippe and the Secretary
of State of the United States
374
00:13:37,430 --> 00:13:39,740
draw up this treaty that
gives the US total control
375
00:13:39,740 --> 00:13:42,310
over this strip of land for
them to build their canal.
376
00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:44,380
No Panamanians were in the room
377
00:13:44,380 --> 00:13:45,740
when they drafted this treaty.
378
00:13:45,740 --> 00:13:47,770
They gave no approval of this.
379
00:13:47,770 --> 00:13:50,150
This treaty was between the US and Panama,
380
00:13:50,150 --> 00:13:51,980
but really it was between the US
381
00:13:51,980 --> 00:13:54,230
and Philippe the French engineer.
382
00:13:54,230 --> 00:13:56,440
So now the US military shows up to Panama
383
00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,370
to claim this land that
they now see as theirs,
384
00:13:59,370 --> 00:14:00,507
and the Panamanians are like,
385
00:14:00,507 --> 00:14:02,640
"Dude, WTF, what are you doing here?"
386
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,237
And the US is like, "Oh,
you signed a treaty with us
387
00:14:05,237 --> 00:14:06,590
"giving us all this land."
388
00:14:06,590 --> 00:14:08,350
And Panama's like, "No we didn't."
389
00:14:08,350 --> 00:14:10,577
And then they're like,
"Oh wait, light bulb.
390
00:14:10,577 --> 00:14:11,647
"Philippe!
391
00:14:11,647 --> 00:14:14,037
"That's why he wanted
to be our ambassador!
392
00:14:14,037 --> 00:14:14,870
"I get it.
393
00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:16,600
"Man, we got played by Philippe."
394
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:17,570
And they totally did.
395
00:14:17,570 --> 00:14:20,670
So now the US is setting up shop in Panama
396
00:14:20,670 --> 00:14:22,625
to start digging their canal.
397
00:14:22,625 --> 00:14:25,708
(film strip rolling)
398
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,410
The US picked up right
where the French left off,
399
00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:34,010
using effectively the same
route that the French had dug
400
00:14:34,010 --> 00:14:35,640
during their seven years of misery.
401
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,570
And speaking of misery,
the US was able to learn
402
00:14:38,570 --> 00:14:39,990
from the French's mistakes.
403
00:14:39,990 --> 00:14:42,480
They started using railways
to truck out all the dirt,
404
00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,090
so that the mud wouldn't
slide back into the canal,
405
00:14:45,090 --> 00:14:47,680
and they learned how to
drain the puddles of water
406
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,320
so that it wasn't a haven for
disease infected mosquitoes.
407
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,580
And most importantly, they
didn't try the crackpot idea
408
00:14:55,580 --> 00:14:58,700
of trying to dig a canal all
the way down to sea level.
409
00:14:58,700 --> 00:15:00,230
They went with the much better idea
410
00:15:00,230 --> 00:15:04,730
of digging the canal up high,
26 meters above sea level,
411
00:15:04,730 --> 00:15:07,657
and using clever engineering
to get ships up to that level.
412
00:15:07,657 --> 00:15:10,430
"Like I said", said that
one French engineer,
413
00:15:10,430 --> 00:15:11,397
and de Lesseps was like,
414
00:15:11,397 --> 00:15:13,050
"No one asked you, get out of here."
415
00:15:13,050 --> 00:15:14,540
So after 10 years of construction
416
00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:16,140
and a visit by Teddy Roosevelt,
417
00:15:16,140 --> 00:15:18,040
who staged this amazing photo shoot
418
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,190
of him wearing a Panamanian hat,
419
00:15:20,190 --> 00:15:21,719
sitting on one of the machines,
420
00:15:21,719 --> 00:15:24,360
all to boost morale to
get this project done,
421
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,450
after all of that, the
US completed this dream
422
00:15:27,450 --> 00:15:29,060
of slicing a water route
423
00:15:29,060 --> 00:15:31,350
through this 80 kilometer stretch of land.
424
00:15:31,350 --> 00:15:33,740
Philippe, at this point,
is back in France,
425
00:15:33,740 --> 00:15:36,600
probably exhausted from
all of his scheming,
426
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,580
but ultimately very pleased
that he was able to pull it off.
427
00:15:39,580 --> 00:15:42,296
So the canal is done,
and here's how it works.
428
00:15:42,296 --> 00:15:44,890
(water rushing)
429
00:15:44,890 --> 00:15:46,960
Remember that the land looks like this.
430
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,030
You have the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans here at sea level,
431
00:15:50,030 --> 00:15:51,540
and then the interior of the land
432
00:15:51,540 --> 00:15:54,210
being about 26 meters above sea level.
433
00:15:54,210 --> 00:15:56,220
So first, they built a dam on this river
434
00:15:56,220 --> 00:15:58,040
to create this giant lake,
435
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,310
so that they have loads
of water to work with.
436
00:16:00,310 --> 00:16:03,650
That's why we see those trees
sticking up from the water,
437
00:16:03,650 --> 00:16:06,020
or why these hilltops turned into islands.
438
00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:09,210
Then they built these brilliant
inventions called locks.
439
00:16:09,210 --> 00:16:11,530
The boat enters here at sea level.
440
00:16:11,530 --> 00:16:14,450
They enter into this chamber
where there is a gate
441
00:16:14,450 --> 00:16:17,970
that is holding the water
from the high up lake back.
442
00:16:17,970 --> 00:16:18,810
It's locked.
443
00:16:18,810 --> 00:16:20,610
But once the boat is in
this holding chamber,
444
00:16:20,610 --> 00:16:23,120
they let the water from
higher up come down,
445
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:24,950
making the boat flow up.
446
00:16:24,950 --> 00:16:27,860
It takes about eight minutes
for the boat to rise.
447
00:16:27,860 --> 00:16:29,610
Then they move into the next chamber,
448
00:16:29,610 --> 00:16:32,090
where they do this again and again,
449
00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:34,500
until by the end of it,
the boat has been lifted up
450
00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:36,540
26 meters above sea level.
451
00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:38,810
They then traverse the rest of this canal,
452
00:16:38,810 --> 00:16:41,280
going through the artificial
lake and snaking through
453
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,660
until they get to the other side,
454
00:16:42,660 --> 00:16:45,330
where now they need to
get down to sea level.
455
00:16:45,330 --> 00:16:47,810
And they go through the same
process, but in reverse.
456
00:16:47,810 --> 00:16:49,180
They finally make it down to sea level
457
00:16:49,180 --> 00:16:52,380
and they can exit onto
now a different ocean
458
00:16:52,380 --> 00:16:53,530
than when they started.
459
00:16:55,860 --> 00:16:57,790
It's honestly an engineering marvel,
460
00:16:57,790 --> 00:17:00,560
and it reshaped the
global economic landscape,
461
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,010
making it easier and safer
to move goods and people
462
00:17:04,010 --> 00:17:04,980
around the world.
463
00:17:04,980 --> 00:17:08,060
And yeah, the US was very
serious about controlling
464
00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:09,339
this little strip of land,
465
00:17:09,339 --> 00:17:11,149
this choke point that they had built.
466
00:17:11,150 --> 00:17:14,859
If you look at a map from
the early or mid 1900s,
467
00:17:14,859 --> 00:17:16,829
you're gonna see that
the Panama Canal zone
468
00:17:16,829 --> 00:17:19,879
was always marked as a
sovereign part of the US.
469
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,710
Controlling a choke point like this
470
00:17:21,710 --> 00:17:25,217
gives you strong strategic
advantage, and the US knew that.
471
00:17:25,217 --> 00:17:28,540
But the world would finally
decide that big powers
472
00:17:28,540 --> 00:17:30,850
shouldn't actually be able to swoop in
473
00:17:30,850 --> 00:17:33,173
and take over whatever land they want.
474
00:17:35,730 --> 00:17:37,990
- [Newscaster] The wind of
change is blowing up a gale
475
00:17:37,990 --> 00:17:39,850
in the Panama Canal zone,
476
00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:41,530
and citizens have to defend themselves
477
00:17:41,530 --> 00:17:44,110
as students and other
rioters demanded the names
478
00:17:44,110 --> 00:17:47,207
of the 61 year old Canal Zone
Treaty with the United States.
479
00:17:47,207 --> 00:17:50,740
- And the Panamanians in the
1960s finally had enough,
480
00:17:50,740 --> 00:17:53,580
and they're like, "Yeah,
this land is actually ours."
481
00:17:53,580 --> 00:17:56,720
So in the 60s and 70s, the
Panamanians rose up in protest
482
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,680
against this US occupation of the canal,
483
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,600
and through a series of treaties,
they finally got it back.
484
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,270
Officially on the last
day of the millennium,
485
00:18:04,270 --> 00:18:07,660
December 31, 1999, they
signed the last treaty
486
00:18:07,660 --> 00:18:09,640
that returned sovereignty to Panama.
487
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,089
And then Jimmy Carter
gave a speech in Spanish.
488
00:18:13,089 --> 00:18:17,150
(Jimmy Carter speaking Spanish)
489
00:18:17,150 --> 00:18:21,390
I mean, he, he tried really
hard, and I guess that matters.
490
00:18:21,390 --> 00:18:24,360
So today, the Panama Canal
belongs to Panamanians.
491
00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,730
It still uses the innovative
technology from 100 years ago
492
00:18:27,730 --> 00:18:29,690
that allows this canal to be built
493
00:18:29,690 --> 00:18:31,650
26 meters above sea level.
494
00:18:31,650 --> 00:18:33,710
But for all of the engineering innovation
495
00:18:33,710 --> 00:18:34,690
that's present here,
496
00:18:34,690 --> 00:18:37,110
to me, the more incredible
part of this story
497
00:18:37,110 --> 00:18:40,390
is how this one Frenchman
orchestrated all of this.
498
00:18:40,390 --> 00:18:42,410
He played all the geopolitical forces
499
00:18:42,410 --> 00:18:44,080
at the time just right.
500
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,760
He used Panamanians'
thirst for independence
501
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,140
and the Americans' thirst for
imperialism and ocean power,
502
00:18:50,140 --> 00:18:53,410
all to make his dream
of this canal happen.
503
00:18:53,410 --> 00:18:56,240
Oh, and to secure his financial
return on the project.
504
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,160
What a wild story.
505
00:18:58,160 --> 00:18:59,160
Thanks for watching.
506
00:19:00,089 --> 00:19:02,589
(light music)
37945
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