The idea to create a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans dates back to the 16th century when Spanish administrators commissioned surveys to uncover whether it was feasible to construct a canal in Central America.

The Spanish understood that whoever controlled such a passage would have a significant geopolitical monopoly on trade and travel, as the Drake Passage was highly treacherous and all attempts to navigate the Northwest Passage would fail for centuries. However, the technological ability to deal with the mountainous terrain and the soft clay and fractured volcanic rock that made up the landscape simply did not exist. 

The French launched the first serious attempt to dig a canal, with their 8-year (1881-89) long venture led by Diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had spearheaded the multinational efforts needed to allow the construction of the Suez Canal. Though Lesseps had some Engineering experience at Suez, he was not a trained engineer, and this contributed to his failure in Panama. Lesseps believed that it would be possible to construct a sea-level passage through Panama and refused the guidance of engineers such as Adolphe Godin de Lépinay, who correctly surmised that a sea-level passage would be impossible due to Panama's Geology and the machinery available at the time. Instead, Lépinay put forth a Lock and Lake design that would raise the water elevation using a series of locks and create an artificial lake in the center of the country. 

Lesseps's plan saw 10,000s of dead workers, mostly from malaria and yellow fever, with landslides adding to the toll. The Americans would replicate Lépinay's plan, finishing the canal in ten years (1904/14) and would maintain ownership of the canal until 1999.