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Oregon
Before the war, the American battleship Oregon had been stationed on the Pacific coast of the United States. When war became likely, the Oregon was sent to the Caribbean Sea. To reach the Caribbean, the battleship had to race around the entire Sotuh American continent. This was a distance of almost 13,000 miles. The united states realized it had a problem. It woul either have to build two complete naives or find a quicker way to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. -
Spanish American War
Spain and the United States wanted Panama. The Spanish-American War was a four-month conflict between the United States and Spain caused by the Spain brutality in Cuba. The war was largely brought about by the expansionists of the United States. Americans supported the idea of freeing the people controlled by the Spanish. At the end of the war, America emerged victorious with a new respect as a world power.
By the Spanish-American War, Panama gained its first Independence. -
Period: to
Age of Imperialism (Panama)
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Construction of Canal
The United States repealed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. The treaty, negotiated in 1850, anticipated the construction of a trans-isthmus canal under joint British-American control. John Hay and Lord Pauncefote, the British ambassador, negotiated a new agreement that granted America exclusive control over a potential canal. Two distinct routes for a canal were considered across the Central American isthmus. -
US & Columbian Relations
Panama splits from Columbia and becomes independent. The US, with Theodore Roosevelt as president, buys the rights to build the Pnama Canal from the "Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama," french company that was the first to try and build the canal. American naval forces preveted columbia from putting down the revolt in Panama and it succeeded. In 1903 the new government gave the United States the rights to build the canal. Work and the process of building the canal began on May 4th of 1904. -
The Roosevelt Corollary
The United States knew it would have to protect the Panama Canal. The Roosevelt Corollary was an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine which stated that the United States reserved the right to stabilize the economies of Central American, South American and Caribbean nations who were unable to pay off their international debts. This was done to prevent European nations from intervening in the United States' "sphere of influence." -
Working on the canal
Since malaria and yellow fever were such a big problem in panama, Dr. William Gorgas, got rid of it by killing the mosquitoes that carried it. The workers drained swamps, swept drainage, and installed plumbing and sprayed pesticides by the ton. The canals engineering changed, it would create a Gatun lake and woud raise ships from the Atlantic side to level with the lake. 100,00,00 cubic yards of dirt and rock were removed. In 1905, yellow fever had been wiped away. -
Result of corollary
Latin Americans were angered because they felt they couldnt manage their own governments. They were also against Americans forcing them back to pay back their loans. In spite of this, the United States acted several times. It maintained a continuous military presence in Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933. It did the same in Haiti and the Dominican Republic at about the same time. American troops were in Cuba from 1906 to 1909 and also intervened on other occasions. -
Dollar diplomacy
President William Howard Taft, elected in 1908 as Roosevelt’s handpicked candidate, pursued a Latin American policy based on economics. The Taft Administration’s endorsement of “dollar diplomacy” reflected America’s rejection of formal empire. Many American policymakers believed that they could control outer lying regions of the globe through economic means. American economic domination meant that the United States could indirectly control the internal affairs of other sovereign nations. -
Panama Canal
A separatist revolution in Panama presented Roosevelt with an opportunity to secure the isthmus. Roosevelt ordered the United States cruiser Nashville to Panama along with eight other ships. Columbian forces, faced with the threat of American intervention, backed down. As a result, Panamanians gained their freedom and established an independent nation. Roosevelt promptly recognized the Republic of Panama and concluded a new treaty. The canal opened in 1914. -
Canal aftermath
By the time the canal project was completed, its economic impact had created a new middle class. In addition, new forms of discrimination occurred. Panamanian society had become segregated not only by class but by race and national origin as well. Furthermore, United States commercial competition and political intervention had already begun to generate resentment among Panamanians.
