Who Obtained The Panama Canal

The United States obtained the Panama Canal because President Roosevelt was exceedingly resolute to acquire a waterway that would enable the U.S. Navy to sail rapidly between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This would strengthen the Navy and, in return, satisfy his goal to expand American power in the world. The only possible locations for the canal were Panama and Nicaragua. Constructing a canal in Panama would cost less money to complete; however, the land would have to be purchased from a French company. The company’s demanding price was outrageously exorbitant, therefore, Nicaragua became the better choice. Because of that, the French company lowered the price of the land seeing as they still wanted some money. A decision had to be made
in order for the canal to be accomplished; it was either Panama or Nicaragua. This decision, however, was suddenly affected by a natural disaster. A volcano erupted in the Caribbean area, demolishing a city and killing thirty-thousand people, and another active volcano was suspected. Although Nicaragua’s president repeatedly denied the possibility of an active volcano, a postal stamp proved him wrong by revealing a picture of an erupting volcano in the country; therefore, the support for the Nicaragua canal weakened. After a lot of conflict and negotiation, a small rebellion, and multiple treaties, Panama was finally granted to the U.S. and the canal was ready to be constructed. Although there was a lot of issues and debt that had to be paid, Roosevelt was proud of the success of the canal.
The sequence of events that occurred caused the acquisition of the Panama Canal. If things did not happen in the exact order that they did, the U.S. might have had a completely different fate. The Nicaragua Canal could have been built or there might have not been a canal. The text of the article clearly states “That little stamp weakened support for the Nicaragua canal.” This is saying that the postal stamp in which proved Nicaragua’s president wrong affected the support for Nicaragua. If this stamp was not published until later, then the support for Nicaragua wouldn’t have changed, and the canal could have been made there instead of Panama. This proves that the order that the events happened caused the acquisition of the Panama Canal.