Panama Canal Essay

Americans, generally known as innovative people, have always been interested in a cheaper, faster, and more effective rout of traveling and transporting goods to and from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Constructing a waterway through Panama was the most effective method of reaching this goal. Panama, is a slender land mass with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. The perfect spot to build a shortcut between the two oceans. A shortcut that would be known as the Panama Canal. on June 19, 1902, after the passing of the 1901 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty allowing the United States permission to build a canal, the United States Senate decided the canal should be built through panama (“Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914,” 1911). Although, former secretary of state, John Hay and Colombian Foreign
Specifically, navel fleets were sent to the city of Colón, on the Atlantic side of the continent, and Panama City on the pacific side (“Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914,” 1911). Partly due to United States assistance, “Panama declared independence on November 3, 1903 (“Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914,” 1911).” Shortly after, negotiations for building a canal in Panama began, and in 1903, the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was negotiated (“Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914,” 1911). The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was an agreement between the United States and Panama that “provided the United States with a 10-mile wide strip of land for the canal,” in exchange for a one-time payment of ten million dollars to Panama, as well as an additional yearly payment of $250,000, and a guarantee by the United States that Panama would remain an independent nation. The canal was formally completed in 1914 (“Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914,” 1911). However, over the years United States control of the canal began to raise tensions between the two