Panama Canal

===United States acquisition===
[[File:Panama canal cartooon 1903.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The US's intentions to influence the area (especially the Panama Canal construction and control) led to the [[separation of Panama from Colombia]] in 1903.]]
[[File:125-French method of excavation in Culebra Cut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Culebra Cut]] in 1896]]
[[File:PSM V61 D312 The culebra cut.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The Culebra Cut in 1902]]

At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a [[Nicaragua Canal|canal across Nicaragua]] and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. [[Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla|Bunau-Varilla]], who was seeking American involvement, asked for $100 million, but accepted $40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the [[Spooner Act]], to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |pp=305–328}}

On January 22, 1903, the [[Hay–Herrán Treaty]] was signed by [[United States Secretary of State]] [[John M. Hay]] and Colombian [[Chargé d'affaires|Chargé]] [[Tomás Herrán]]. For $10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable [[lease]] in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal.<ref>{{cite web |date=1903-11-18 |title=Hay-Herrán Treaty |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h930.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214090737/http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h930.html |archive-date=February 14, 2012 |access-date=2010-10-24 |publisher=U-S-history.com}}</ref> The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on March 14, 1903, but the [[Senate of Colombia]] unanimously rejected the treaty since it had become significantly unpopular in Bogotá due to concerns over insufficient compensation, threat to sovereignty, and perpetuity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hay-Herran Treaty (1903) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hay-herran-treaty-1903}}</ref>

Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on the [[Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty]] of 1846, and actively supported the [[separation of Panama from Colombia]]. Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Livingstone|first1=Grace|title=America's Backyard : The United States and Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to the War on Terror|date=2009|publisher=Zed|location=London|isbn=9781848132146|pages=13}}</ref>

On November 2, 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on November 3, 1903. The United States quickly recognized the new nation.{{sfn |McCullough |1977 |pp=361–386}} This happened so quickly that by the time the Colombian government in [[Bogotá]] launched a response to the Panamanian uprising US troops had already entered the rebelling province. The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels, they would not have been able to defeat the US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels. The reason an army of conscripts was sent was that it was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia still was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October, 1899, to November, 1902, known as the "[[Thousand Days' War|Thousand Days War]]". The US was fully aware of these conditions and even incorporated them into the planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides. The peace treaty that ended the "Thousand Days War" was signed on the [[USS Wisconsin (BB-9)|USS ''Wisconsin'']] on November 21, 1902. While in port, the US also brought engineering teams to Panama with the peace delegation to begin planning the canal's construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal. All these factors would result in the Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meade|first=Teresa A.|title=History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present.|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2016|isbn=978-1-118-77248-5|location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=128–130}}</ref>

On November 6, 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the [[Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty]], granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses. This is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/pan001.asp |title=Avalon Project—Convention for the Construction of a Ship Canal (Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty), November 18, 1903 |publisher=Avalon.law.yale.edu |access-date=2010-10-24 |archive-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104144736/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/pan001.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web|title=September 07, 1977 : Panama to control canal|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal/print|publisher=History.com|year=2010|access-date=Apr 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410075709/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal/print|archive-date=2015-04-10|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Vaughan|title=International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ylwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR92|access-date=Apr 4, 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=66|isbn=9780191509070|date=September 28, 2007|archive-date=March 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323192553/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ylwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR92|url-status=live}}</ref> This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States.

President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The ''[[New York Times]]'' described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delano |first=Anthony |date=November 9, 2016 |title=America's devious dream: Roosevelt and the Panama Canal |url=https://www.historyextra.com/membership/americas-devious-dream-roosevelt-and-the-panama-canal/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colby |first=Gerard |date=2020-01-01 |title=William S. Culbertson and The Search for The Geopolitical Imperium |url=https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1256 |journal=Graduate College Dissertations and Theses}}</ref> The ''[[New York Post|New York Evening Post]]'' called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huffman |first=Alan |date=2014-08-15 |title=Panama Canal's 48 Miles To An 'American Century' |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/panama-canal-anniversary-2014-100-years-ago-today-navigation-project-launched-1644698 |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US [[gunboat diplomacy]] in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US [[protectorate]] until 1939.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hanson |first=David C. |title=Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal |url=http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Content/PDFs/Roosevelt_Panama_Canal.pdf |publisher=Virginia Western Community College |access-date=21 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201211319/http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Content/PDFs/Roosevelt_Panama_Canal.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}</ref>

In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the [[Panama Railroad]], for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the [[Culebra Cut]], valued at about $1.00 per cubic yard.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Panama Canal Congressional Hearings 1909 |section=Col. Goethals testimony |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmM-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 |access-date=26 December 2011 |last1=Committee On Appropriations |first1=United States. Congress. House |year=1913 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110133352/https://books.google.com/books?id=xmM-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref> The United States also paid the new country of Panama $10 million and a $250,000 payment each following year.

In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the [[Thomson–Urrutia Treaty]], in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $25 million: $5 million upon ratification, and four $5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal |title=U.S. agrees to transfer Panama Canal to Panama |work=History.com |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014923/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal |url-status=live }}</ref>