The creation of the Panama Canal in 1914 was seen as an accomplishment of the impossible. The project that took ten years and two tries, changed the global geography and power structure. The shipping traffic that now homed in on Panama was unlike anything seen before and it only got busier over time. An entity this massive and critical for economies and military logistics would certainly hold a ton of power. This is why the United States, under Theodore Roosevelt took a second stab at the formidable project of creating the canal. Learning from French mistakes in the 1880s, and with newer technology, the United States succeeded in building the canal and maintain control of it as well. This gave the U.S. a lot more control over global trade and economies. It also allowed for more military presence in Central America for which it could spread its influence, and hinder others in the region.
The country most affected by the United States influence with the canal would be Panama. The Panamanian government gave the U.S. control over the established canal zone and allowed for military bases and presence in their country. This was in exchange of the U.S. supporting Panamanian independence in 1903. Earlier in the same year, the U.S. offered a similar deal to Columbia who controlled Panama at the time. When Columbia said no, the U.S. and frustrated Panamanians organized a separation and became their own country. Panamanians saw the financial benefit of the canal and were worried that they might miss out as the U.S. was also considering Nicaragua. The only way that they could receive this canal would be to leave Columbia. Due to military support from the United States, there was really nothing Columbia could do.
Within months, the U.S. had signed a treaty with the new government. The following year construction began on the canal. Theodore Roosevelt, the president at the time made a visit to see the progress in 1906. This action made him the first U.S. president to make an overseas diplomatic visit while in office. This also showed the world how important this project was to the United States. After ten years of hard work and determination by workers, the original Panama Canal was built and opened in 1914. Neither World War I nor World War II gave the canal much action. The U.S. built up a sizable force to defend it due to its strategic value however it was never under serious threat.
As time went on, outlooks of the U.S. changed, and the people wanted control over what was legally in their country. They realized that they were not profiting from the Canal as much as they thought. This led to many protests and tensions throughout the years in Panama. The most notable was the 1964 protests which left 22 Panamanians and 4 Marines dead. This day is still remembered as Martyrs Day in Panama. Another large conflict arose in 1968 when the United States supported a coup of the current Panamanian regime. This led to political and social instability however, strengthened the relationship between the two governments. Many negotiations occurred and a restructure of the contract was signed in 1977. The new contract agreed to hand over the canal at the end of the century on December 31st, 1999.
Still, conflict of opinion led to bad tensions in the 1980’s between the United States presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, as well as Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Noriega used to work for the CIA and was on good terms with the United States. However, as he rose to power, he began to distance himself and became less friendly towards American’s. His Panamanian Defense Force, or PDF constantly got into issues with U.S. service personnel and even led to a few soldiers’ deaths in 1989. This was the climax and the next day; the U.S. invasion of Panama began with the main goal of seizing Noriega. Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. under drug charges. The U.S. made a rapid exit and returned to only the Canal Zone. They left a new leader in charge who was believed to have potentially won the previous year’s election. Despite this conflict, the canal was finally handed over to Panama peacefully in 1999 as stated in the revised treaty of 1977. Since then, Panama has created an organization that runs the canal and things have been going smoothly.
This project will be analyzing the Panama Canal and how it has operated as a foreign policy entity over time. We will be able to analyze the effect that the canal has had on relations between the U.S. and Panama. The idea is to analyze the canal over time and see what major events have occurred. From there, we can see what foreign policy was enacted as a result and determine what affects the canal has caused. All of these goals will be accomplished through the detailed examination of quality primary source material of the era. By using primary source documents, we can ensure an accurate understanding of the context and events. This can also give readers a great look into each historical event to better learn what has happened over the last century. We will also help analyze our question with the use of secondary sources. This can help give us some credible, educated opinions on the topics and provide us with some analysis. From these, we can further our understanding into the policies of the United States and Panama.
This project is important to understand because the canal is a one-of-a-kind foreign policy entity. It can provide us with a view into how modern Panama is what it is today. The country is a small little country in Central America which is not overtly special. Their unique advantage that they hold in the region and world is the canal. This brings them more global business and influence then regional opponents. The canal also represents how the United States interacted with Panama over the last century. Since the United States is the most influential country in the western hemisphere, their presence in any country’s history is going to have a lasting effect. Panama is no different as the United States had an extraordinary amount of political and military influence in the country. We are simply finding out what the effect of the United States is and why the canal can be seen as the reason to why those effects have occurred. In other words, if the canal did not exist, what about U.S./ Panama relations would have changed.
The Panama Canal created a special policy relationship between Panama and the United States which allowed for extreme U.S. control over Panama. This control was both economic as well as military and shaped how Panama has interacted with the world. Panama also received some benefits as they gained independence from Columbia with the help of the United States. The primary sources within this project will represent how this control and influence by the United States changed how the two countries interacted with each other. By using U.S. Government documents, we can establish a viewpoint for how the United States saw Panama. These will be crucial in order to understand foreign policy of the U.S on Panama. From using many sources over the 20th century, we can track changes in policy agenda over time. We can infer as to why these changes have happened from current events and context of the time.