New Ways to Play and the Panama Canal Presentation By: Rhayven Coats & Jessica Reed

New Ways to Play pages

Rural to City Life Work schedules remained the same throughout the year unlike agricultural work schedules Worked mainly indoors not out Most people had the desire to spend weekends and evening leisure time outdoors.

The Boring Streets and Some New Ideas Most cities in mid 19 th century, children had only the streets to play in Streets became increasingly crowded making play for children dangerous. Most Americans could not afford expensive toys/family vacations to provide fun for themselves or their children Jacob Riis proposed a series of parks for New York to make play or relaxation time easier for children/ adults

Central Park is Born  Built between 1857 and 1876  Covers 840 acres in the middle of Manhattan island in NY In 1857 NY state legislature paid $5 million for the land that was once farm, livestock, and open sewer land In 1857 NY state legislature paid $5 million for the land that was once farm, livestock, and open sewer land Terrain shaped by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux Terrain shaped by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux The terrain included flat, grassy areas, rolling hills, woods, and ravines The terrain included flat, grassy areas, rolling hills, woods, and ravines

Pathways & Bicycles  After the 1880s, modern bicycles were made To accommodate this, many parks included pathways for joggers and bicyclists Bicycling through the park became a popular activity for both men and women Many people enjoyed long walks through the park Others took carriage rides or sat on benches watching the passersby

Boating in Central Park Central Park had a number of lakes and lagoons Most people though could not afford a boat so they rented one from Central Park

From Boats to Ice Skating Even during winter, people enjoyed outdoor activities One such activity is ice-skating on frozen ponds and lakes In the 1850s E. W. Bushnell designed and produced a skate with steel blades to replace the wooden skates with iron blades This new ice-skate turned skating into a speedier and more graceful form of exercise/ activity

The Panama Canal pages

Trade Fuels Exploration European nations gradually evolved a system of mercantilism (establish a favorable balance of trade by exporting more than importing)  U.S. firmly establishes global trade in late 19 th century

Cutting Up for the Panama Canal  First cut was through the Isthmus of Suez in 1869 Another cut was made later in Central America Cutting through Central America very advantageous because it substantially reduced sailing time between the U.S.’s Atlantic and Pacific ports

A Few Years and Many Vessels Later…  Took the United States 10 years to construct the Panama Canal ( )  By 1996 over 700,000 vessels with about 70 different nations flags passed through its locks

Limits On Vessel Size To fit the canals locks ships had to be certain dimensions Can not be no more than 106 ft across and 965 feet in length The depth of the vessel below the water line when fully loaded must not exceed 39.5ft Tolls are paid based on size of the vessel, its cargo, and the number of passengers

Extra Info NYC and other U.S. Atlantic ports accounted for about 60% of the traffic using the Panama Canal in the early decades since its premier New Orleans has served as a major port of the produce of the areas along the Mississippi River since its founding (1718) Sailing from NYC to San Francisco by going around South America is 13,000mi Using the Panama Canal, it was only 5,200mi