It connected the Pacific ocean and the Caribbean sea
Atlantic.....but if you keep going the pacific
By boat
he wanted to cross the alt Atlantic ocean or America to the Pacific .
Panama City
From the South Atlantic to the South Pacific.
A boat traveling from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal would be traveling northwest. Although the Pacific Ocean is west of the Atlantic Ocean in Central America, at Panama the Caribbean Sea arm of the Atlantic is to the north, and the Pacific to the south. Canal builders took advantage of natural lakes and valleys, so the actual orientation of the canal is NW to SE. (see linked map) Going from the Atlantic (Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific, ships travel to the southeast.
Skipping the many American and/or Canadian lakes, you would overfly the Pacific and Indian Oceans, if travelling West. If going East, you would see the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans.
The Panama Canal is the shortest route.
Through the Panama Canal.
They found the "Northwest Passage"; a trail going from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The Atlantic Ocean (shortest distance- east) Going west you'd have to cross the Pacific Ocean and Asia.