Teddy Roosevelt's Influence On Foreign Trade

Trade almost always benefits the countries who participate in it. There have been many trends towards freedom of trade in the United States ever since the very beginning of the nation. Trade boosts the economy by keeping it competitive and lowering prices, which increases the consumers purchasing power. Without trading between nations, the United States wouldn’t be what it is today, trade at the center of the United States is what shaped this country as well as foreign relations. Teddy Roosevelt has influenced trade and foreign relations in the United States arguably more than any other president to this day. With the building of the Panama Canal Teddy Roosevelt changed how the United States and the rest of the world would trade forever. The importance of foreign trade has been apparent throughout the entire history of the

Before the building of the Panama Canal Ships would have to make the extremely long trek around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn, if they wanted to go from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and vice versa. The building of the canal would reduce the time spent significantly for shipping goods across the two oceans. However, the building of the canal would not end up being an easy project. There were many difficulties when building the canal. The biggest difficulty of the all however, was keeping workers motivated and healthy. Diseases flourished in this region of the world, and the most concerning and deadly of these diseases was yellow fever. To keep the workers motivated while building the canal Teddy Roosevelt visited the site for twelve days and gave impromptu speeches. This showed how important the building of this canal was to him and the United States trade if he would be willing to risk his own life to motivate workers. Also, the Canal was the biggest and most expensive project the United States had ever taken