Beginning of Essay
Interest in a short route from the Atlantic to the Pacific began with the explorers of Central America early in the 16th century. Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conqueror of Mexico, suggested a canal across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; other explorers favored routes ....

Middle of Essay
.... it. Nothing came of this effort, however, and the revolt of the Spanish colonies soon took the control of possible canal sites out of Spanish hands. The republics of Central America instead tried to interest groups in the United States and Europe in building a canal, and it became the subject of debate in the US Congress. The discovery of gold in California in 1848, and the rush of would-be miners stimulated US interest in digging the canal. Various surveys made between 1850 and 1875 indicated that only two routes were practical, the one across Panama and that across Nicaragua. In 1876 an international company was organized; two years later it obtaine ....