In 1878, US claims on Panama were once again threatened when Ferdinand de Lesseps, the famous Frenchman who built the Suez Canal, decided to construct a similar canal in Panama. The Americans were furious. They sent battleships to the area and protested vehemently, but little could be done to stop him. A company called the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique (later to be called the New Panama Canal Company or NPCC) was established by de Lesseps and a number of prominent European financiers, who supported him because of his previous success with the Suez Canal.
