The US: The Rise And Fall Of The Panama Canal

During the twentieth century the United States of America became involved with three major conflicts that resulted in the nation shifting from a regional power into a global power. Through these conflicts the United States grew territorially, economically and industrially. Foreign policies were altered to allow the United States to gain ground on the world stage and to make their mark on the world. Through careful analysis of primary sources and scholarly document s it is clear to see that the United States involvement in the Spanish American war was the first step for the United States to grow on the world stage. The American victory in the war led to the acquisition of island territories and expanded economic and military capabilities in the both the western and eastern hemisphere as well as an increased involvement in Asia. World War I ended with American democratic ideals to be spread all across Europe. Led by President Woodrow Wilson, the United States led a one sided foreign policy that used intervention, peace treaties and military intervention to endorse international order. Despite a limited role in the war President Wilson was able to outline the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations and both of their presences can be found today.

The United States began as an isolated country, only focusing on the matters going on within the nation. Overseas expansion, military strength, and the practice of Social Darwinism later became an interest to the nation’s development. Because there was a want for power, wealth and missionary zeal, the United States became an imperialistic country. As a result the construction of the Panama Canal became an important project to begin. Despite all the difficulties it faced during the process, the Panama Canal was completed and gave the nation great power.

During the 1800’s there was no clear passage to take from New York to the American west. This created an issue as the expense to transport goods such as wheat and flour would be a costly amount of approximately $100 per ton. Due to the Appalachian Mountains New York was secluded from much of western America. The Canal took approximately nine years to be completed, despite funding issues that were presented the canal proved to be an expense well made. The Erie Canal (Clinton’s Ditch) was a project known to be doubted upon by political figures, yet despite political opposes to the idea, the result of the canal was noted to be America’s greatest engineering achievement of its time, as the increase of economic prosperity arose in New York because of the canal, alongside popularity for the regions that surrounded the canal; the canal proved to be a success.

It was an age of empire, and by the 1900s Europe’s powers had taken control of more than 10 million square miles and 150 million people. In the closing years of the nineteenth century, foreign policy assumed a new importance for Americans. Political and business leaders have been preoccupied by internal matters and began to look outward in order to advocate a more activist approach to world affairs. Not wanting to be left behind, the United States emerged as a great power exercising imperialism; two of the countries which experienced this exercise was, Hawaii and Cuba.

Next came global imperialism during 1893, which “was simply an extension of the way American had ‘won the West’” (Schultz, 2012, para. 3). Politically, American imperialism can be traced back to the 1870s when the United States began to compete with European powers to “conquer vulnerable resource-rich regions” that would provide “substantial profits and a worldwide network of commercial and military bases” (Schultz, 2012, para. 7). In 1883, the United States began to build upon its military through the replacement of wooden sailing ships with “powerful all-steel, steam-driven battleships, armed with the latest long-range artillery” (Schultz, 2012, para. 19). This also meant that the United States needed naval supply bases to aid the naval fleet in maintaining American territory overseas. As for why America was building a global empire, this was done to support American economic development and to establish the United States as a world power worth reckoning with.” The United States also worked to build a global empire “because many Americans believed the United States was destined to share the benefits of democracy and white civilization with the rest of the world” (Schultz, 2012, para. 90).

The expansionism of 1885 differed from nineteenth and twentieth century expansionism in the ways that the recognised world powers of earlier expansionism did not include the United States (Doc A). It is only after the Roosevelt Corollary, Manifest Destiny, and the newfound strength of the America’s naval power that the United

Shortly following the United States rise to imperialistic power, president McKinley was assassinated on 14 September 1901. The boisterous and aggressive Vice President Theodore Roosevelt would now fill the role of President. Unlike McKinley, Roosevelt did not shy away from conflict. He was ambitious to lead the charge in expanding America’s presence with an aggressive foreign policy. Shortly following the United States rise to imperialistic power president McKinley was assassinated on 14 September 1901. The boisterous and aggressive Vice President Theodore Roosevelt would now fill the role of President. Unlike McKinley, Roosevelt did not shy away from conflict. He was ambitious to lead the charge in expanding America’s presence with an aggressive foreign policy. Part of his foreign policy measures was to control strategically sound terrain such as in the Panama Canal. By signing the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which gave the United States control over the Canal Zone, it according to Alfred Mahan, gave the U.S.,” An interior line connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific (Mahan, 232).” Thus, this allotted the U.S. greater security by taking away a key terrain from the enemy and creating their own that would make them more capable in naval offensives around the globe. In order to use this terrain to the United States’ advantage they had to once again keep relations and land intact not using all the tools in their arsenal to defeat the enemy.

Before the canal was built, the United States did not hold much a distinction in the world or a lot of influence. Once the canal was built, the United States could share their goods and culture with the rest of the world in a way they could not before. News as well as ideas could be shared faster. This is an example of a nation spreading influence through their diplomacy, which is a part of the definition of imperialism. This made the United States look more desirable and noticeable as a nation.

In order to get to the Pacific Ocean from the east coast of the United States you must either, go around Canada, go around South America, or go all the way around the world. These were the only ways to get to the Pacific from the Atlantic Ocean until 1914. The most common way the American navy would get there was around South America. In many instances when there was problems on the west or east coast that needed naval intervention it took a significant amount of time for the navy to reinforce them. This could end up being a serious problem for the United States if there was any large scale problem on the west or east coast that involved the navy, it could take a detrimental amount of time for the reinforcements to arrive. They needed a way to connect the two seas so that it could help them to reduce the time necessary to get from one coast to another and so that other ships could get access to both seas without much trouble. The creation of the Panama Canal was the most efficient and effective way to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The United States of America’s strength is defined by five key events in history. In the following order: the Colombian Exchange, Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase, Mexican-American War and Civil War are considered strong evidence that America can compete with older nations. In addition, these events prove that America is self sufficient and capable of making it’s own decision as illustrated in the Declaration of Independence. Not only has the United States shown it’s competitors that it can successfully trade, but is able to also eliminate problems as they arise. From past to present, every occurrence in American history will continue to internationally affect the future generations.

John Latane wrote his article The Effects of the Panama Canal on Our Relations with Latin America in 1914 and claims that since the Panama Canal, new policies are being formed, “The building of the canal has, in the first place, rendered inevitable the adoption of a policy of naval supremacy in the Caribbean Sea, and, in the second place, it has led to the formulation of new political policies to be applied in the zone of the Caribbean…” He goes on to say how these policies have given the U.S. control of canal routes, ability to acquire naval bases in the area, set up satellites, and requires governments to be constitutional and have the consent of its citizens. The scope the Panama Canal goes beyond just the simple control of a waterway. By having the canal, the U.S. was inserting greater dominance in the Caribbean Sea and in Latin American countries. The Monroe Document was designed by the U.S. to keep European powers from interfering with

The reason for the United States building the canal, was to prepare to go to war with Spain. The USS was ordered to leave California to head towards Cuba, but they realized that this trip would take 60 days and they would have to stop in South America numerous times for coal, before they would reach Cuba. After that, the U.S. knew that there had to be a route to take so they built the Panama Canal. Originally, the French started the Panama Canal in 1881, but they went bankrupt, so the United States agreed to pay for the costs and take up the construction. Columbia denied the United States the right to take over, which caused a revolt with the Panamanians. The Panamanians received their independence, which granted

In one time, William McKinley manifested “Expositions are the timekeepers of progress,” inspiring America that the workflow will be presented graciously. Reaching to the years of massive expansions, America had grown tremendously with goods and services. During the late 1890s, President McKinley urged Americans to transformed America into the greatest powerful nation in the whole world. In preparing for a strong nation, the Spanish-American War had enclosed their attainments due to tensions between Spain and United States. American had its victories and forwarded the Treaty of Paris which had control over several foreign countries. After the war, United States focused on up warding their nation. America’s progression of new

From a distance, the Panama Canal seems like an imperialist relic, a historical leftover from a nearly forgotten chapter of US history. Up close, however, it is apparent that the Panama Canal is one of the world’s great waterways, the highly efficient economic engine for a rather prosperous Latin American country. The creation of the Panama Canal was an unprecedented feat of engineering, the most costly single effort ever before mounted anywhere on earth. It affected the lives of tens of thousands of people at every level of society and of virtually every race and nationality. It marked a score of advances in engineering, government planning, and labor relations. The American effort to build the Panama Canal began in 1904. The first ship sailed through the canal in 1914, ten years and $326 million later. The canal would not be fully open to commercial traffic for another six years. Landslides shut it down for most of 1915 and 1916, and then briefly in 1917 and 1920. Strikes hit the canal in 1916 and 1917. World War I practically closed it to commercial traffic, and work continued on clearing dangerous hills, fixing locks, and finishing all the ancillary construction required by the canal. The Panama Canal finally opened to civilian traffic on July 20, 1920, after an additional six years and $53 million, costing twice its initial estimate, after adjusting for inflation.

As early as the 1500’s, the idea of constructing a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans occurred to navigators and explorers, as the geographical form of the Central American Isthmus was becoming known. Many Isthmus surveys were made over the years. Opinion remained divided between a route through Panama and a longer route through Nicaragua. This divided opinion continued until the building of the Panama Canal was begun by the U.S. in 1904. By the end of the century the U.S. government would find themselves in an unnerving situation; concerned with the Panama Canal and other economic interests would unfortunately demonstrate unequaled force and damage to an innocent people with their focus on something