<P> Construction of the canal began on January 1 , 1881 , with digging at Culebra beginning on January 22 . A large labor force was assembled , numbering about 40,000 in 1888 ( nine - tenths of whom were afro - Caribbean workers from the West Indies ) . Although the project attracted good , well - paid French engineers , retaining them was difficult due to disease . The death toll from 1881 to 1889 was estimated at over 22,000 , of whom as many as 5,000 were French citizens . </P>
<P> Construction of the canal began on January 1 , 1881 , with digging at Culebra beginning on January 22 . A large labor force was assembled , numbering about 40,000 in 1888 ( nine - tenths of whom were afro - Caribbean workers from the West Indies ) . Although the project attracted good , well - paid French engineers , retaining them was difficult due to disease . The death toll from 1881 to 1889 was estimated at over 22,000 , of whom as many as 5,000 were French citizens . </P>
when did the french start the panama canal
when did the french start the panama canal
January 1 , 1881
January 1 , 1881