The French effort to build a sea-level canal through Panama’s mountainous jungle failed due to dangerous, difficult work, insurmountable financial problems, ceaseless rains that triggered mudslides, and corruption and scandal. The French company in charge went bankrupt in 1889, with an estimated 20,000 workers dead. The French had spent $262,000,000 on the project, with little to show. The U.S. later purchased the French company’s equipment and promised to do it differently

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