Amrbrose W. Thompson was a wealthy shipbuilder from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He acquired a large piece of land, the isthmus of Chiriqui, in the northern part of modern-day

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. He thought it would make an ideal port because of its large lagoon and stocks of coal, so he offered to sell it to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. However, in 1861, Chiriqui was brought to the attention of

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate State ...

as a possible site to colonize with freed black slaves. Funds were appropriated by Congress, an emigration agent was appointed, and, by late 1862, 13,700 freed slaves had signed up for the plan. Financial irregularities (Thompson and his partners were paying off their personal debt with federal funds allocated to the project) stopped the plan. Also, complaints from neighboring countries about the plan kept it stalled. Lincoln next considered Isle a Vache, off the west coast of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, as a place for colonization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ambrose 19th-century American businesspeople American shipbuilders Year of birth missing Year of death missing