Cheap labor was the way to go in building this massive project, and about 75,000 workers were hired to help construct the canal. At one point, there were 40,000 people working on it at the same time. About 28,000 workers died building the canal. The working conditions were horrible, with workers having to traverse through many unsafe environments, such as swamps, rainforests, and even mountains. Many workers were exposed to deadly diseases and parasites with little to no protection against them, causing the extreme amount of deaths. 10 years of construction passed, and the canal was opened, improving trade immensely.
The Panama Canal had many benefits, but sadly came with a very taxing cost on the people.
2 comments:
It's sad how many people died building this canal. The canal was very helpful for trade and the US in war, but I don't think it was worth the amount of deaths to build the canal. Do you know what race the majority of the workers were, like were they African American, American, Latin American...?
The workforce used to construct the Panama Canal consisted mainly of contract workers from the Caribbean. These workers and many other minorities were taken advantage of and exploited for their cheap wages, and were often seen as expendable by their employers.
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