Connecting Worlds: The Panama Canal
A Background
Connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans was always a goal for the United States. The first plans for a canal occured long before Hay’s time as Secretary of State. The US and Britain first brought this idea to the forefront in the 1850s. This collaboration would soon fizzle out but was picked back up by the French about thirty years later. After spending over $250 million dollars and nearly 20,000 men dying, the project was deserted and the Panama affair became known for its scandalous nature by the French populace. However, with the new Roosevelt administration, the United States once again looked to connect the two oceans.
How Hay played a part
With Roosevelt newly in power, he immediately set his sights on this seemingly disastrous project. Hay was put to work in trying to secure the United States’ power over the project. In 1901, Hay and the British Ambassador signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, which voided the previous 1850 agreements surrounding the canal and allowed the US total control.
Hay’s responsibilities would not stop here. During this era, Panama was a part of Columbia. This meant that to build the canal, the United States would need to operate under the Columbian government’s approval. Hay, alongside the Colombian Foreign Minister Tomás Herrán, signed the Hay-Herrán Treaty. This, in theory, would have allowed the United States to build the Canal with little trouble. However, the Columbian Congress rejected this treaty for financial reasons. With the Columbian government effectively shutting down this chance for the canal to be built under their authority, Roosevelt looked to a different ally in order to get what he wanted.
With help from US warships sent by Roosevelt, Panama gained its independence in 1903. The Republic of Panama was born and, with its birth, the canal was once again a viable project. Hay was quickly put to work and a new treaty was written. The signing and approval of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 would finally set the stage for construction. In exchange for the ability to build the canal, the US paid the new government a one-time sum of $10 million dollars as well as an annual payment of $250,000 for control that would last for almost a century.
While building the canal was no easy feat, the technological and economical feat would officially be finished in 1914 and remains an integral part of international trading and shipping.