Political borders aren't the only type of geography affected by historical events. The very shape of the land itself can be changed by human activity, as we build dams to create new lakes, level mountains for mining, or tunnel beneath the earth to connect our cities. One of the most remarkable historical events in this category is the building of the Panama Canal.
Before 1914, ships that wanted to sail from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean (or back the other way) had to go all the way around Cape Horn in South America--a journey of over 13,000 miles, as shown by the red line on this map. For centuries, traders and engineers had wanted to carve a shortcut through the narrow isthmus of Panama, because such a change to the landscape would cut the length of the trip in half, as shown by the map's blue line. Unfortunately, constant rainfall, the presence of disease-carrying mosquitoes, and the sheer size of the project led to failure after failure.
Finally, in 1904, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt bought the incomplete Panama Canal excavation site from the French government, and U.S. workers began tearing away at the 50 miles of jungle and earth that separated the Atlantic and Pacific. The canal they built has been called one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Compare the map of the proposed route of the canal before it was built to the canal as it appears today.
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Question
How do you think maps were used to convince Theodore Roosevelt or other political leaders to resume work on the Panama Canal?
