Editing Panama Canal (section)

===United States acquisition===
In 1897-1899, US President [[William McKinley]] (1897-1901) tasked two commissions headed by Admiral [[John Grimes Walker]] to recommend the best route for a canal across Central America. Although the first commission had been tasked only to consider routes across [[Nicaragua Canal|Nicaragua]], [[William Nelson Cromwell]] successfully lobbied the Government to broaden the terms of reference to also consider the Panamanian isthmus. The commission issued a confidential preliminary report on 21 November 1901, shortly after [[Theodore Roosevelt]] had become president following the assassination of McKinley. The preliminary report favored the Nicaragua route on pricing grounds; although the commissioners noted the technical advantages of the Panama route, they considered its informally quoted price of $109 million to be excessive. The report was leaked to [[Philippe Bunau-Varilla]], who during an emergency shareholders' meeting of the Compagnie Nouvelle amended the price to a formal offer of $40 million, the estimated sale value of the existing Panama assets acceptable to the commissioners.{{sfn|McCullough|1977|pp=265-266, 292-294}} On 10 December, [[George S. Morison (engineer)|George S. Morison]], the most eminent engineer on the commission, wrote a letter to President Roosevelt giving the technical reasons for preferring the Panama route. In January 1902, Roosevelt called the members of the commission into his office individually and asked them to give their own personal evaluations of the best route. Roosevelt then held a closed meeting with the entire commission, where he made it clear that he wanted the offer to take over the Panama route from the Compagnie Nouvelle to be accepted. In late January, the commission issued a final report, unanimously recommending Panama.{{sfn|McCullough|1977|pp=265-268, 326-328}}

[[File:Theodore Roosevelt by the Pach Bros.jpg|thumb|left|upright|United States President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (1901-1909), the driving force behind US construction of the [[Panama Canal]].]] The proposal to purchase the French rights to Panama faced considerable opposition in Congress, since the Nicaragua proposal was preferred by many. The Nicaragua route was championed by Senator [[John T. Morgan]], who grilled members of the Walker Commission on their reasons for recommending Panama. Nonetheless, the proposal to purchase the French rights and property in Panama for $40 million was eventually approved by both Houses of Congress, championed by Senator [[Mark Hanna]]. He was supported by the known backing of President Roosevelt for the proposal, and by the lobbying efforts of Cromwell and Bunau-Varilla. 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 22 January 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=18 November 1903 |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=14 February 2012 |access-date=24 October 2010 |publisher=U-S-history.com }}</ref> The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on 14 March 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>

[[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.]] 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=978-1-84813-214-6 |page=13 }}</ref>

On 2 November 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on 3 November 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. An army of conscripts was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia 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 21 November 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. |author-link=Teresa Meade |title=History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-77248-5 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=128–130}}</ref>

On 6 November 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 administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses. This treaty gave the US some rights to the canal "in perpetuity", but in article 22 limited other rights to a lease period of 99 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/pan001.asp |title=Avalon Project{{snd}}Convention for the Construction of a Ship Canal (Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty), 18 November 1903 |publisher=Avalon.law.yale.edu |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=4 November 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=07 September 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=4 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410075709/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal/print |archive-date=10 April 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lowe |first=Vaughan |title=International Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ylwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR92 |access-date=4 April 2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=66 |isbn=978-0-19-150907-0 |date=28 September 2007 |archive-date=23 March 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.
[[File:Go Away Little Man Charles Green Bush.jpg|thumb|upright|1903 cartoon: ''"Go Away, Little Man, and Don't Bother Me".'' President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] intimidating [[Colombia]] to acquire the Panama Canal Zone.]]
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=9 November 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=6 March 2024 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426064237/https://www.historyextra.com/membership/americas-devious-dream-roosevelt-and-the-panama-canal/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colby |first=Gerard |date=1 January 2020 |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=15 August 2014 |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=6 March 2024 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US |archive-date=17 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817092714/https://www.ibtimes.com/panama-canal-anniversary-2014-100-years-ago-today-navigation-project-launched-1644698 |url-status=live }}</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 |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>

[[File:PSM V61 D312 The culebra cut.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The Culebra Cut in 1902]] In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the [[Panama Railroad]], for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the [[Culebra Cut]], valued at about {{convert|1.00|$/yd3|$/m3|1}}.<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=10 January 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 |date=9 February 2010 |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=27 November 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>