Panama Canal Analysis

The canal is bordered on both sides by the Panama Canal Zone, a strip of land given to the United States in 1903 but returned to Panama in 1979. The United States turned over the control of the canal to Panama in 1999. While the Panama Canal is a bridge of water connecting two oceans, building it ripped Panama apart. For Panama the opening of the canal meant a great boom in it's economy.

Theodore Roosevelt wanted to begin construction of the Panama canal before the campaigning of 1904. The treaty and $100 million offered to Colombia for the land for the canal was rejected by the Colombian government. Roosevelt was a man with short temper and the mentality that he was always right so he decided to take action and began with the killing of Chinese man and a donkey. Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty fifteen days later and the Panama was purchased by the U.S. for $15 million. To many people it seemed as though Roosevelt was actively trying to take away canal from colombia but that was not true. Construction began in 1904 and was finished ten years later in 1914 with the total cost of $400 million to build. Latin American nations were having hard time paying debts so countries such as Britain and Germany decided to send a force to South America to force them to pay. Theodore Roosevelt did not like this so he created the Roosevelt Corollary to keep the Monroe Doctrine together. This said that no other country could “bully” Latin America except the U.S. and Latin America felt Uncle Sam was being

The construction of the Panama Canal has a number of important foreign policy implies, First it led to the United States' supporting independent factions, who separated the republic of Panama from Colombia, and it also led to the granting of sovereign land rights to the United States over the Panama Canal Zone. The Panama Canal had massive suggestions for

Roosevelt felt strongly about trade throughout the world. In 1904 the Isthmus of Panama was first broken by American shovel. After months of negotiation, the Latin American government allowed the creation of the Panama Canal. The U.S. military and other volunteers did most of the work. But because of Yellow Fever and Malaria , few workers returned. In 1914 the Canal Zone was finished and for the first time the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were flowing together.

He thought a canal would help with security and economic growth in American. In 1903 the Hay-Herrán Treaty was approved, it stated that the Unites States would pay Colombia $10,000,000,000 then $250,000 yearly to build a six mile canal. Colombia rejected the offer and asked for $25 million instead. Building the canal didn’t seem possible, that was until November of 1903 when the Republic of Panama was formed after Panamanian Rebels declared independence from Colombia (Singer 8). To protect the newly formed republic Roosevelt sent American warships and battleship U.S.S Nashville into the Panamanian waters. Since Panama was recognized as a independent state the canal zone was extended.

This was Theodore Roosevelt's first act as president. The Panama Canal was a project that would have a canal built to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean and be used in international trading. The British and the French have both thought about and attempted this before and now the United States would try. The canal was supposed to travel through the Nicaragua, but Roosevelt wanted the canal to travel across the Isthmus Mountains because he thought the larger ships would not fit through the Nicaragua. So, he attempted to sign a treaty with Columbia but was rejected by the Colombian senate. Roosevelt decided to plan with Philippe Bunau-Varilla who represented the French Panama Canal Company. His plan was to have panama revolt against columbia. On November 3, 1903 the revolution was announced and now considered panama independent. Roosevelt was able to get the treaty signed by Panama on November 18 that would allow the United States to build the canal. “When it was completed in 1913 at a cost of $387 million, the canal represented one of the most expensive construction projects ever undertaken” (Linn, Charles). Although the canal was not finished until 1913, Theodore Roosevelt still considered it the greatest achievement of his

WHAT: After U.S intervention into Panama, the U.S. had the want, the will, and the power to finish the canal which the French had started in 1881 and abandoned in 1894. The U.S. Began construction of the canal in 1904 under

A treaty between the US and the United Kingdom to rebuild the Nicaragua canal that would connect the pacific ocean to the atlantic. It required both the US and UK to use the canal to an unfair advantage. It also said neither party could attempt to occupy Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or any other part of Central America.

Roosevelt saw the completion of a canal in Panama as a military and economic necessity for the United States, and he was determined to make it happen. In 1903, Roosevelt attempted to get

Before they could begin building the Panama Canal they had to get permission from the Columbians to use their land to build on, but the Columbians refused to sign the agreement. Then the U.S. sent soldiers to Panama to help Panama gain their Independence. The Columbians could not beat the U.S., so Panama gained their

President Roosevelt wished to build a channel through which the US Navy and other ships could go through to cut down the time spent in their travels around the Americas. When negotiations fell through with Colombia, the country that currently owned the property he was interested in building on, Roosevelt funded the Panamanian revolution and helped to set up a Naval Blockade to aid them even further. After all was said and done in 1903, a treaty called the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

Before the development of the Panama Canal, it took months to move cargo inexpensively from the East Coast to the Pacific. However, with the Canal, ships could expect a very expedited and not to mention cheaper trip. Not only convenient, the Panama Canal supported business and expansion, both key national interests of the time by providing a quick, safe and efficient route from the Eastern United States to the West Coast and beyond. The Panama canal was an excellent promoter of U.S. national interests during the 1890’s-1920’s, because it established U.S. foreign territory, helped businesses utilize cheaper shipping routes and gave quick access into the pacific for the New Navy, however the Panama Canal did not promote democratic values because of America’s policy towards Panama. By providing the U.S. with new land overseas and quicker routes for the new navy, the Panama Canal promoted the national

In 1903, the United states under President Theodore Roosevelt signed a treaty with Panama which gave over the rights to build and control the passage through what we now know as the famous Panama Canal, with the purpose of creating a politically, economically and geographically significant waterway that would allow for the travel of ships from the

The new treaties, passed under the Carter administration and Panama’s head of state Omar Torrijos would give Panama full control of the canal on December 31, 1999, at 12:00 midnight. All of the canal’s assets would also be turned over to Panama (Lycos.com). The ratification of the Panama Canal treaties was an important step involving a decrease in Third World hostility toward the United States (Dumbrell 212). Carter and his advisors agreed even before the inauguration that the canal negotiations should be an immediate priority. If the United States did not successfully complete negotiations, which had been going on since the Johnson administration, the government of Panama might create conflict in the zone that would require drastic American action (Hargrove 123).

Back then the land in which the canal was to be built was owned by Columbia. Theodore Roosevelt asked the Columbians for permission to build the canal, but they refused.