"By far the most important action I took in foreign affairs during the time I was
President was related to the Panama Canal," wrote Theodore Roosevelt in his
autobiography. In a speech several years after he "took" Panama, Roosevelt
explained: "There are plenty of other things I started merely because the time
had come that whoever was in power would have started them. But the Panama Canal
would not have started if I had not taken hold of it, because if I had followed
the traditional or conservative method I should have submitted an admirable
state paper to Congress… the debate would be proceeding at this moment… and the
beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years in the future. Fortunately
[the opportunity] came at a period when I could act unhampered. Accordingly I
took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the
canal, but to debate me." --Theodore Roosevelt
President was related to the Panama Canal," wrote Theodore Roosevelt in his
autobiography. In a speech several years after he "took" Panama, Roosevelt
explained: "There are plenty of other things I started merely because the time
had come that whoever was in power would have started them. But the Panama Canal
would not have started if I had not taken hold of it, because if I had followed
the traditional or conservative method I should have submitted an admirable
state paper to Congress… the debate would be proceeding at this moment… and the
beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years in the future. Fortunately
[the opportunity] came at a period when I could act unhampered. Accordingly I
took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the
canal, but to debate me." --Theodore Roosevelt
From 1819, Panama was part of the federation and country of Colombia but when Colombia
rejected United States plans to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, the U.S. supported a revolution that led to the independence of Panama in 1903. The new Panamanian negotiated a Hay-Herran treaty with
the United States. This allowed the U.S. to build the Panama Canal and provided control of a zone five-miles wide on either side of the canal.
Roosevelt was happy when the United States Senate approved the Hay-Herran Treaty in 1903, offering the Colombian government $10 million in cash and an annual payment of $250,000 for a six-mile-wide strip across the Colombian province of Panama. But the Colombian senate refused to ratify the treaty, holding out for $25 million.Roosevelt refused to give in. Fearing that the U.S. might choose an alternate route through Nicaragua, an enterprising group of Panamanian businessmen--anxious to reap the commercial benefits of the canal—seized the opportunity. While Rooseveltand his foreign policy advisors explored their options, word reached Washington that a revolution was once again brewing in Panama, and that the terms of the treaty recently rejected by the Colombian Senate would be agreeable to the Panamanians. While careful not to endorse the revolt, Roosevelt discreetly let it be known that the U.S. would view this as a positive development and could be counted on to act accordingly. Work on the canal began in 1904 and was completed in 1914.
rejected United States plans to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, the U.S. supported a revolution that led to the independence of Panama in 1903. The new Panamanian negotiated a Hay-Herran treaty with
the United States. This allowed the U.S. to build the Panama Canal and provided control of a zone five-miles wide on either side of the canal.
Roosevelt was happy when the United States Senate approved the Hay-Herran Treaty in 1903, offering the Colombian government $10 million in cash and an annual payment of $250,000 for a six-mile-wide strip across the Colombian province of Panama. But the Colombian senate refused to ratify the treaty, holding out for $25 million.Roosevelt refused to give in. Fearing that the U.S. might choose an alternate route through Nicaragua, an enterprising group of Panamanian businessmen--anxious to reap the commercial benefits of the canal—seized the opportunity. While Rooseveltand his foreign policy advisors explored their options, word reached Washington that a revolution was once again brewing in Panama, and that the terms of the treaty recently rejected by the Colombian Senate would be agreeable to the Panamanians. While careful not to endorse the revolt, Roosevelt discreetly let it be known that the U.S. would view this as a positive development and could be counted on to act accordingly. Work on the canal began in 1904 and was completed in 1914.
The
Panama Canal Treaty, 1903
“Article I. The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic
of Panama.
Article
II. The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the use,
occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for the
construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of said Canal of
the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of
the center line of the route of the Canal to be constructed. . . .
Article
III. The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power
and authority within the zone mentioned and described in Article II of this
agreement and within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters mentioned and
described in said Article II which the United States would possess and exercise
if it were the sovereign of the territory within which said lands and waters are
located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any
such sovereign rights, power or authority. . . .
Article
XIV. As the price or compensation for the rights, powers and privileges granted
in this convention by the Republic of Panama to the United States, the
Government of the United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum
of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin of the United States on the
exchange of the ratification of this convention and also an annual payment
during the life of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine years after the date aforesaid. . .
.
Article
XVIII. The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto shall be neutral
in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the terms provided for by Section I of
Article three of, and in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty
entered into by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain on
November 18, 1901. . . .
Article
XXIII. If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the
safety or protection of the Canal, or of the ships that make use of the same, or
the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at all
times and in its discretion, to use its police and its land and naval forces or
to establish fortifications for these purposes. . . .
Article
XXV. For the better performance of the engagements of this convention and to the
end of the efficient protection of the Canal and the preservation of its
neutrality, the Government of the Republic of Panama will sell or lease to the
United States lands adequate and necessary for naval or coaling stations on the
Pacific coast and on the western Caribbean coast of the Republic at certain
points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.”
Panama Canal Treaty, 1903
“Article I. The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic
of Panama.
Article
II. The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the use,
occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for the
construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of said Canal of
the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of
the center line of the route of the Canal to be constructed. . . .
Article
III. The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power
and authority within the zone mentioned and described in Article II of this
agreement and within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters mentioned and
described in said Article II which the United States would possess and exercise
if it were the sovereign of the territory within which said lands and waters are
located to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any
such sovereign rights, power or authority. . . .
Article
XIV. As the price or compensation for the rights, powers and privileges granted
in this convention by the Republic of Panama to the United States, the
Government of the United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum
of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin of the United States on the
exchange of the ratification of this convention and also an annual payment
during the life of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine years after the date aforesaid. . .
.
Article
XVIII. The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto shall be neutral
in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the terms provided for by Section I of
Article three of, and in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty
entered into by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain on
November 18, 1901. . . .
Article
XXIII. If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the
safety or protection of the Canal, or of the ships that make use of the same, or
the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at all
times and in its discretion, to use its police and its land and naval forces or
to establish fortifications for these purposes. . . .
Article
XXV. For the better performance of the engagements of this convention and to the
end of the efficient protection of the Canal and the preservation of its
neutrality, the Government of the Republic of Panama will sell or lease to the
United States lands adequate and necessary for naval or coaling stations on the
Pacific coast and on the western Caribbean coast of the Republic at certain
points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.”