Part one of term paper
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 through Nicaragua and Darién. The first project for a canal through the Isthmu ...

Part two of term paper
... but no action was taken. Eventually the Spanish government subsequently abandoned its interest in the canal, but in the early 19th century the books of the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt revived interest in the project, and in 1819 the Spanish government formally authorized the construction of a canal and the creation of a company to build 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 ha ...