Tunison’s Chart of the World Showing the Distances Saved by the Panama Canal

Persuasive map highlighting the benefits of American ownership of the Panama Canal.

This interesting world map highlights the tremendous reduction in travel time for maritime transportation with the impending opening of the Panama Canal. Former steamship routes are shown in hashed lines, while the new, more direct paths of travel are shown in solid black. Two tables, upper center and lower right, emphasize the mileage saved between major commercial ports – over 10,000 for the trip between New York and San Francisco! An inset in the upper right shows a possible alternative canal across the isthmus of Nicaragua.

In either case, the advantages in terms of both economic prosperity and military security are obvious. In 1903, the U.S. Government supported Panamanian independence from Colombia in order to obtain a perpetual lease on the land used for the canal, after the Colombian Senate refused to do so. America officially took control the following year, though it would be another decade before the Panama Canal opened for shipping.

Published by H.C. Tunison (note the clever Rebus puzzle in the upper left) around 1900.