A canal would have helped US ships get to the war more quickly.
The Spanish-American War proved the US struggled to get ships to the Pacific quickly without having a direct route from the East coast where many ships were built and to the islands of the Pacific such as the Philippines where fighting was occurring.
Following the Spanish-American War, the US worked to gain a canal to move ships, equipment, and soldiers to the Pacific more quickly. The US gained the Philippines and Guam from the Spanish-American War as well as Hawaii in the same year. These islands would all serve as naval bases and would need to be equipped quickly especially if war were to break out. Creating the Panama Canal would cut travel time in half and would be more safe than going around the tip of South America. Through the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt the US was able to gain access to the land needed to create the canal.
