Name: _________________________
Mr. Armstrong
Date: __________
SS8 | AIM #: ____
The Panama Canal
President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the realization of a long-term United States goal—a canal through the Central
American isthmus. Throughout the 1800s, American and British leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods
quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Roosevelt was particularly interested in creating a bicoastal navy, enabling U.S. naval ships to travel quickly and easily between the east and west coasts of the United
States.
Excerpt
In 1850 the United States and Great Britain
negotiated a treaty to end a rivalry over a
proposed canal through the Central American
Republic of Nicaragua. The Anglo-American
canal, however, never went beyond the
planning stages.
French attempts to build a canal through
Panama, which was a province of Colombia,
advanced further. Led by Ferdinand de
Lesseps—the builder of the Suez Canal in
Egypt—the French began excavating in 1880.
Malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical
diseases conspired against the de Lesseps
campaign and after 9 years and a loss of
approximately 20,000 lives, the French
attempt went bankrupt.
In spite of such setbacks, American interest in
a canal continued. Great Britain and the
United States negotiated a new treaty which
gave the United States a license to build and
manage its own canal. Following heated
debate over the location of the proposed
canal, on June 19, 1902, the U.S. Senate voted
in favor of building the canal through
Panama. Within 6 months, Secretary of
State John Hay signed a treaty with
Colombian Foreign Minister to build the new
canal. The financial terms were unacceptable
to Colombia’s congress, and it rejected the
offer.
President Roosevelt was disappointed with
the decision and suggested to Panamanians
that they seek independence from Colombia.
Roosevelt dispatched U.S. warships to
Panama City (on the Pacific) and Colón (on
the Atlantic) in support of Panamanian
Your notes, annotations, questions, etc.
1. What was the purpose of the treaty between Great Britain and
the U.S.?
2. What was the outcome?
3. What other country was interested in building a canal through the
Central American isthmus?
4. Why do you think Panama was chosen as the location for a canal
linking the Atlantic and Pacific?
5. What was the outcome?
6. How did the United States gain license to build a canal without
the involvement of Great Britain?
7. Why was a treaty with Colombia necessary in order to build a
canal through Panama?
8. When Colombia rejected the offer of the U.S., what did
Roosevelt do in order to circumvent (get around) their decision?
independence. Colombian troops were unable
to negotiate the jungles of the Darien Strait
and Panama declared independence on
November 3, 1903.
The newly declared Republic of Panama
negotiated the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of
1903, which gave the United States
permanent rights to a 10-mile wide strip of
land for the canal, a one-time $10 million
payment to Panama, and an annual payment
of $250,000. The United States also agreed to
guarantee the independence of Panama.
Completed in 1914 at a cost of $345 million,
the Panama Canal symbolized U.S.
technological prowess and economic power.
Although U.S. control of the canal eventually
became an irritant to U.S.-Panamanian
relations, at the time it was heralded as a
major foreign policy achievement.
As the 20th century progressed, tensions
between the United States and Panama over
U.S. control of the Canal grew. Throughout
the 1960s and 1970s, much effort went into
resolving the tensions. On September 7,
1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty
with Panama setting December 31, 1999 as
the date the canal would be turned over to the
Panamanians, who have controlled it since.
9. How much did the U.S. pay for access to the Panama Canal
Zone?
10. How long was the U.S. to be given access to the zone?
11. What did the U.S. promise the new Republic of Panama?
12. Why did Roosevelt go to such great measures to see that the
canal was built?
13. Why did the U.S. abandon its permanent access to the zone as
granted in the 1903 treaty?