Question

Before the United States gained sovereignty over the Panama Canal, it had been the project of _________.

• A. A French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps
• B. A Spaniard named Vasco da Gama
• C. A collective South American venture led by Simon Bolivar
• D. The Dutch West India Company
• E. The British Empire

Answer 1

The correct option is A A French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps

Before the United States gained sovereignty over the Panama Canal, it had been the project of a French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps. Ferdinand de Lesseps had just finished overseeing the design and building of the Suez Canal and hoped to repeat his success in Panama, but the French project ran out of money before he could finish the job. The great French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, won a concession from the Colombian government to construct a canal in Panama in the 1880s. His French Canal Company failed miserably, but his successors retained the concession and asked 109 million dollars for it.