Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal
US History/Napp
Name: __________________
Analyzing a Political Cartoon:
This political cartoon provides the student with clues about how the United States acquired
the right to build and control a canal through Panama in 1903.
Try to answer the following questions solely through your analysis of the political cartoon:
1- Who is the large fellow with a cowboy hat on the right side of the cartoon?
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2- Why is the fellow with a cowboy hat leaning on a shovel?
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3- What country is represented by the egg in the cartoon?
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4- Could you locate the country represented by the egg on a map?
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5- What hatched from the egg?
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6- What caused the egg to hatch?
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7- Who is the villain with the black hat and pointed mustache at the left of the
cartoon?
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8- After studying the political cartoon, what hunches or guesses do you have about
how the United States acquired the right to build and control the Panama Canal?
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Historical Context:
~ Adapted from Selected Case Studies in American History
When Columbus encountered the Americas, he had been seeking an all-water route to
Asia and the riches of Asia. If the Panama Canal had existed when he made his voyages, he
might have succeeded in his mission, for Columbus and his men actually spent Christmas
of 1502 near what is now the Atlantic entrance to the Canal. Perhaps if his men had not
been so tired, they would have discovered the Pacific Ocean before Vasco Núñez de Balboa
did in 1513.
For many years after Columbus’ voyages, Europeans thought the Americas was just a
large land mass between them and the Asia. Explorers sailed up the broad rivers of both
North and South America searching for a water route which would take them to the Pacific
Ocean. Since no such route existed, men began to dream of building one by cutting a canal
across the land barrier. The most logical place was the narrow neck of land between North
and South America called the Isthmus of Panama.
Questions:
1- What had Columbus been seeking?
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2- Why did Europeans want to discover an all-water route to Asia [Previous
Knowledge]?
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3- Where had Columbus spent the Christmas of 1502?
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4- What European explorer was the first to cross the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific
Ocean in 1513?
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5- Define “Isthmus”.
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6- What did Europeans believe about the Americas for many years?
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7- Why did European explorers sail up the broad rivers of both North America and
South America?
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8- Did a water route exist that would take explorers through the Americas to the
Pacific?
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9- What did individuals begin to dream of?
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10- Where was the most logical place for building a canal in the Americas?
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Like many of man’s dreams, the building of a canal took a long time to complete. The
first serious attempts were not made until the late 1800’s, and they ended in dismal failure.
An American company had attempted to build a canal through Nicaragua, in 1889, but
went bankrupt after wasting four and one half million dollars. A few years earlier, a
French company led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, famous for building the Suez Canal, had
begun work in a province of Colombia, called Panama, at the site of the present canal.
Steaming hot jungle, torrential rain, and mosquitoes carrying malaria and yellow fever
plagued the workers from the start. In all, 5,527 workers died before the project was
abandoned in 1889 at a great financial loss.
One Frenchman who worked with Lesseps, however, did not give up. His name was
Philippe Bunau-Varilla. A closer look at the cartoon will reveal that Bunau-Varilla is
depicted as the villain with a black hat and pointed mustache. He was a brilliant and
energetic French engineer who refused to quit when Lesseps’ company went bankrupt. It
was his hope that the United States would provide the money which would help him
succeed where the other companies had failed.
Teddy Roosevelt was also very interested in building a canal that would join the Atlantic
and the Pacific Oceans. (Teddy is the large fellow with the cowboy hat at the right in the
cartoon.) During the California gold rush of 1849, many a clipper ship was lost trying to
navigate through the treacherous winds and currents off Cape Horn at the tip of South
America. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, the warship Oregon took three
months to steam from California around Cape Horn to the Atlantic. The ship arrived too
late to play a significant part in a war which brought fame to Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy, like
most Americans, saw the need for a fast and safe way of connecting the two great Oceans.
Questions:
1- What happened to an American company that attempted to build a canal through
Nicaragua in 1889?
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2- Who was Ferdinand de Lesseps and what work did he begin in a province of
Colombia called Panama?
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3- What conditions plagued de Lesseps’ workers as they tried to build the canal?
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4- How many of de Lesseps’ workers died trying to build the canal?
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5- Why was de Lesseps’ project abandoned in 1889?
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6- Who was Philippe Bunau-Varilla?
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7- What did Philippe Bunau-Varilla hope the United States would do regarding the
canal?
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8- Who was Teddy Roosevelt and what was he very interested in building?
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9- How did the lack of a canal affect Americans during the California gold rush of
1849?
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10- How did the lack of a canal affect the warship Oregon during the Spanish-American
War of 1898?
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11- Why did Teddy Roosevelt see the need for a canal?
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Once in office, Teddy Roosevelt moved quickly, and in 1903 a treaty was arranged
with Colombia. The treaty provided the United States pay 10 million dollars to
Colombia plus an annual rental fee of 250,000 dollars in exchange for leasing a ten-mile
wide canal zone across the province of Panama.
Roosevelt, who was eager to “make the dirt fly,” was surprised and furious when the
Colombian Congress refused to accept the treaty. In anger, Roosevelt referred to the
leaders of Colombia as “Homicidal Corruptionists” and added that “you could no more
make an agreement with the Colombian rulers than you could nail currant jelly to a
wall.”
Then in the fall of 1903, a revolution took place in Panama. Revolutionists in the
province of Panama declared their independence from Colombia and formed a new
country which they called the Republic of Panama. Within days the new nation signed
a canal treaty with the United States on the same terms which Colombia had refused.
Panama had gained its independence, and Theodore Roosevelt now had his chance to
start on the canal.
Questions:
1- State two terms of Teddy Roosevelt’s 1903 treaty with Colombia.
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2- Why was the treaty not accepted?
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3- What did Roosevelt call the leaders of Colombia?
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4- What happened in the fall of 1903?
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5- What did the new nation do within days of independence?
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6- What were the terms of the treaty between the U.S. and Panama?
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7- What did Teddy Roosevelt now begin?
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Questions to Think About:
1- Was it luck and coincidence that a revolution broke out in Panama?
2- Was it luck that the revolution was successful?
3- Did the Frenchman, Bunau-Varilla, have anything to do with hatching the egg of
revolution as the cartoon seems to indicate?
4- What do you think was Roosevelt’s role in the whole affair?
Excerpts from Several Significant Primary Sources:
First Primary Source:
From a letter by José Marroquín, President of Colombia:
The Rights of Colombia – A Protest and Appeal (November 28, 1903)
The government of the United States is treating Colombia in a manner that seems
dishonorable to all the people of that country. American Secretary of State Hay, has
astonished the world by finding a right to exclude the troops of Colombia from the Isthmus
of Panama.
The United States violated international law by recognizing the independence of Panama
only days after the revolution and before the nation of Colombia had a chance to put down
the insurrection. Colombia did not recognize the southern states which seceded during the
American Civil war – why should the United States recognize the seceding states of
Panama?
Second Primary Source:
While returning by ship from Europe in 1914, Roosevelt reportedly told a shipboard
acquaintance:
People say that I fomented insurrection in Panama prior to the time that I became
President. While I was President I kept my foot down on those revolutions so that when
the revolution referred to did occur, I did not have to foment it; I simply lifted my foot.
Third Primary Source:
Bunau-Varilla, the energetic French engineer who had refused to give up when the French
company abandoned the canal project, spent the fall of 1903 encouraging revolutionary
groups in Panama. In his autobiography, he writes that he discovered from friends of
President Roosevelt that the United State would give protection to a revolution in Panama.
In 1940, Bunau-Varilla was interviewed by CBS reporter Eric Sevareid and told the
following story:
I called on Mr. Roosevelt and asked him point blank if, when the revolt broke out, an
American warship would be sent to Panama to “protect American lives and interest.” The
President looked at me; he said nothing. Of course, a President of the United States could
not give such a commitment, especially to a foreigner and private citizen like me. But his
look was enough for me. I took the gamble.
Fourth Primary Source:
Theodore Roosevelt describing his meeting with Bunau-Varilla as follows:
He is a very able fellow and it was his business to find out what he thought our
Government would do. I have no doubts that he was able to make a very accurate guess,
and to advise his people accordingly. In fact, he would have been a very dull man if he had
been unable to make such a guess.
What do you think?
Explain in your own words how the United States acquired the right to build the Panama
Canal.
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Write a caption which you think best fits the cartoon at the beginning of the packet.
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Which primary source do you find most significant regarding how and why the country of
Panama came into existence?
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