The Panama Canal Essay Research Paper The

The Panama Canal Essay, Research Paper

The shortest distance between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is the tiny

Isthmus of Panama which joins Central and South America. The dreams of building a

canal through this land dates back to the 1500’s. The Isthmus was a key player in the

California gold rush for prospectors. The French originally tried to build a canal but

failed and the United States took over. [2 McCullough 24-26] There were many

setbacks, the greatest of which was disease and Roosevelt sent William Gorgas to

handle the problem. [Jorden 14] “When the canal was finished it truly joined two

separate worlds.” [2 McCullough 30]

Hundreds of years before the Panama Canal was completed, people of many

lands dreamed of building a canal across Central America. “As early as 1517, Vasco

Nunez de Balboa, the first European to reach the Pacific, saw the possibility of a canal

connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.” [2 McCullough 24] During the period of

the 1840’s and 50’s, present -day Panama was a providence of Colombia. Colombia

feared that Britain would try to seize Panama for use as a canal site. Colombia signed

a treaty with the United States in 1846 in which they agreed to guard all trade routes

across Panama and to preserve Panama’s neutrality. [Cameron 37]

During the California gold rush, the Isthmus of Panama became an important

route between the Eastern United States and California. [2 McCullough 34] “Many

prospectors sailed from Atlantic ports to Panama, crossed the isthmus by boat, mule, or

on foot, and took another ship to California.” [Cameron 44] In 1850, a group of

business executives pooled together $8 million dollars and built a railroad across the

isthmus that was completed in 1855. This was the first solid link in a chain of events

that sparked the building of the Panama Canal. [St. George 12]

The French first tried to construct a canal across the isthmus in 1878 under the

company headed by Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, who had directed the construction of

the Suez Canal. [2 McCullough 181] He faced many hardships and once said,

“Faithful to my past, when they try to stop me, I go on.” [2 McCullough 182] They

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planned to dig a canal at sea level, therefore eliminating the use of locks. In 1886,

many problems arose with this plan and so the French decided to build a canal similar

to the one that operates today. [Jorden 126-127] Due to problems with disease,

specifically yellow fever, and corrupt business running the digging projects, the French

sold out to a second French firm, the New Panama Canal Company, took over in 1894.

They made very half-hearted attempts at digging, in order to keep the franchise until

another buyer could be found. [Cameron 69]

The United States originally endeavored in building a canal across Nicaragua in

1899 since it would require less digging than a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.

The French saw this and sent Philippe Bunau-Varilla to persuade the Americans to

purchase the Panama Canal Zone. He told them that the Nicaraguan volcanoes

presented the danger of lava flows and earthquakes, and that Panama was safer. In

1902, Congress gave President Theodore Roosevelt permission to accept the French

offer if Colombia allowed the United States permanent use of the canal zone. [St.

George 30-37] Congress acted after the United States and Britain had replaced the

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with the Hay-Paunceforte Treaty which gave the United States

the sole right to build and operate a canal across Central America. [Cameron 82]

In 1903, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay signed a canal treaty with a

Colombian representative, Tomas Herran. The treaty provided that the United States

would give Colombia an initial payment of $10 million and pay $250,000 annual rent for

the use of the zone. The problem was that the Colombian legislature refused to

approve the treaty because it felt this was not enough money. [Jorden 199-200]

A group of Panamanians feared that Panama would lose the commercial

benefits of a canal across the isthmus. The French company worried about losing the

sale of its property to the United States. [St. George 49] The Panamanians, with the

help of the French and some encouragement from the United States, revolted against

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Colombian November 3, 1903, and declared Panama independent. [2 McCullough

223] In accordance with its 1846 treaty with Colombia, the United States sent ships to

Panama to protect the Panama Railroad. Marines landed in Colon, and prevented

Colombian troops from marching to Panama City, the center of the revolution, by

forming a long line across the Panama-Colombia border. [Cameron 107] On

November 6, 1903, the United States recognized the Republic of Panama. Less than

two weeks later, Panama and the United States signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.

It gave the United States permanent, exclusive use and c

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