Panama Canal Essay

Dreams of a canal stretching from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean to increase trade and influence has long been envisioned by the United States. When opportunity to build a canal in Colombia controlled Panama arose, the United States sunk its teeth into it and never gave up its grip. A French company had a similar dream, but the dream was met with bankruptcy and to recover its loses, a deal was made with the United States to sell its assets. Colombia agreed to a treaty which would allow the States to build and maintain a canal, however, talk of independence among the Panamanian people caused alarm for the Colombian government. Fear of having a Unites States canal in Panama would undermine their sovereignty, Colombia rejected the treaty. This

After completing the Suez Canal in 1869, the company hired Ferdinand de Lesseps to build a canal through Panama. Unfortunately, the attempt failed due to illness, unfamiliarity with the region, and the result was bankruptcy in 1889 with hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted and over 20,000 dead. The United States wanted a canal, but was in no position to take on the massive task of building a canal in Panama at this time. The last three decades of the 18th century was economically horrific since the Panic of 1873 and 1893 resulted in railroads companies collapsing, credit markets became unstable, and millions lost their jobs, “However, the American victory in the Spanish-American War (1898) created a wave of optimism. The war had produced enormous political and economic benefits, including an expansion of overseas markets, at a very little cost to the national treasury.” One of the platforms William McKinley had been elected for was the building of a canal in the “Western Hemisphere” to defend American commercial trade and expand markets to foreign countries. When Theodore Roosevelt took office after McKinley’s assassination, he pushed heavily for a canal and Congress passed the Spooner Bill in 1902. This Bill would give the president 40 million dollars to purchase the French Panama Canal Company

to buy the French Panama Canal Company and resume construction on a canal. Yet, once the United States Senate ratified the Hay-Herran Treaty, whispers of Panamanian independence spread, and the Colombian government became weary of permitting the much more powerful U.S. a foothold in its territory. Fearing its sovereignty in jeopardy, the Colombian Congress rejected the treaty. The center piece to Roosevelts foreign policy was the construction of a canal across the Isthmus. The amount of trade the water passage would bring was simply too valuable to be foiled. Roosevelt took the refusal as a “Colombia shakedown” for more money and, “raged that the ‘jack rabbits’ in Bogota must not be allowed to unilaterally ‘bar one of the future highways of civilization.’” Some of Roosevelts advisers suggested the U.S. seek plans to build a canal in Nicaragua while others suggested seizure of the land by force to build a canal citing the responsibility of the 1846 treaty which was to ensure commercial trade along the Isthmus. However, Roosevelt choose to wait, hoping history would repeat itself and there would be a revolt in Panama and then the U.S. would make its