The Suez Canal

As early as 1800, Napoleon had surveyors looking for routes from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Mediterranean Sea WHY? The French had wanted a shipping route from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea for a long time. A shortcut from Marseilles to the Orient would give France an advantage over England. Red Sea

The surveyors told Napoleon that the Red Sea was 30 feet higher than the Mediterranean and if they dug a canal, it would totally sweep away the Nile Delta. By this time, Napoleon had other concerns, such as the Napoleonic Wars and the project was suspended… Nile Delta but not forgotten

By the 1850s, the idea of a canal linking the two seas was once again active BUT… By The Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, would not even hear petitions from France or Britain about building the canal

Ferdinand de Lesseps Former French Consul to Cairo Personally knew the Khedive and his son, Said When the Khedive died, his son, Said, became Khedive of Egypt Monsieur de Lesseps quickly wrote to the Khedive and was invited to come to Egypt.

What Do You Think Happened? Pair Share Let’s find out by reading excerpts from The Suez Canal by Ferdinand de Lesseps.

The building of the Suez Canal Building started in April, 1859 Completed by November, 1869 Cost: $100 million US France was granted a 99 year lease for the Canal and shares in the company that would run the Canal At the end of the 99 years, control of the Canal would return to Egypt Egyptian workers called fellahs, using picks and shovels, first began the construction of the Canal, but after many deaths and bad working conditions, heavy cranes came in to finish the job.

Why did that make this man very happy? The opportunity… When Said died in 1867, his nephew, Ishmail became the Khedive of Egypt. By the 1870s, Ishmail began to modernize Egypt and incurred massive debts. His solution to the problem – Sell Egypt’s shares for the Suez Canal. Why did that make this man very happy?