Papers > History > Roosevelts Foreign Policy and the Panama Canal
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Roosevelts Foreign Policy and the Panama Canal
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... ” The proverb not only described Roosevelt’s actual demeanour, but also described his foreign policies as well. This paper will explore the connections between the proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”, and Roosevelt’s foreign policy when examining his dealings concerning the Panama Canal.
The creation of the Panama Canal gave the US government “virtual hegemony over Latin America. ...
The post-Civil War period opened the possibility of a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The advent of such a canal would boost trade and economic prospects for whatever country controlled it. But, in 1850, the US agreed alongside with Britain that both countries would not build such a canal unless working alongside each other, which was called the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. Instead, France had a crack at digging through Panama, but the man in charge, Ferdinand de Lesseps, went bankrupt. “The bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company became a major scandal in France in 1889, and it also provided the United States with an opportunity to annul the Clayton-Bulwer agreement and cut its own canal. ... ” The question that remained was not if the canal would be dug but rather, where would the canal be dug?
With the consent of Congress, the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty was enacted, which permissed America to build the canal. When an assassin’s bullet made Roosevelt President, the second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty was commissioned by Congress and after ratification, Congress had a hard time deciding between Nicaragua and Panama for the placement of the canal. However, the second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (created after Roosevelt became President) made it not only possible for the canal to be built but also for the US Navy to police it.
The Walker-Isthmian Canal Commission reported in 1901 they were in favour of the canal being built in Nicaragua.
“The decisive criterion --cost-- seemed exorbitant for Panama because of the obduracy of the new Panama Canal Company, a French chartered firm that held the Colombian concession for canal rights. The company estimated its assets on the isthmus at $109 million--machinery, property, and excavated soil left by the defunct de Lesseps organization after its failure to cut through Panama in 1888. ... Phillippe Bunau-Varilla, the French company’s chief representative to the United States, also began to push for the canal to be built in Panama. As Congress was being handed all the information, they passed the Hepburn Bill, which advised America to choose Nicaragua as the site for the canal. ... The stamps depicted a volcano that had recently erupted and lay within the route of the proposed canal in Nicaragua. By January 1902, the Walker-Isthmian Canal Commission changed its original decision and preferred Panama as the site for digging.
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Paper Information
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Title: Roosevelts Foreign Policy and the Panama Canal
Words: 2265
Rating: None
Pages: 9.1
submitted by: CainTrain
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