Canal Zone

International Treaties and Development

Two key factors in the later part of the 1800s compelled the American government to pursue the creation of a canal through the Isthmus of Panama. First, traffic through the region greatly increased due to Americans wishing to travel from the east coast to the west coast of the United States during the California Gold Rush. Second, the Spanish-American War (1898) added urgency to the need for an American-controlled canal because of a perceived need to transport troops, supplies, and battleships from one theater of war to another.

At the beginning of the 1900s, the Isthmus of Panama was controlled by Colombia, and for this reason a treaty was required for Americans to access the area. In 1902, the U.S. Congress ratified a treaty with Colombia to establish the Canal Zone. The Colombian government rejected this treaty and proposed a counteroffer for a more financially lucrative deal. This process angered the jingoistic President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1903, revolution broke out in the Isthmus of Panama. With President Roosevelt's consent, the United States supported the rebels in this conflict. After the rebels won their independence, their fledgling government quickly negotiated a Canal Zone treaty with the United States. Many in the new Panamanian government took issue with the terms of the hastily constructed treaty. However, they were told if they did not sign, U.S. forces would be pulled out of the area, thus allowing Colombians to retake the region. The resulting Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was approved by the Panamanian government on December 2, 1903. On February 26, 1904, Panama granted to the United States control of the zone.

In 1977, riots over U.S. control of the zone and accusations of American colonialism compelled President Jimmy Carter to renegotiate the terms of the Canal Zone treaty. Certain American interests did not want to give up control of the zone as granted by the 1903 treaty, claiming it would weaken the ability of U.S. military forces to respond to threats. Carter, however, believed that regional stability outweighed these concerns of a vague military threat. Thus, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977 established the neutrality of the canal, disbanded the majority of American military presence in the zone, and established joint U.S.-Panamanian control of the zone. Additionally, the treaty put into place a timetable for the canal and Canal Zone to be handed over to the Panamanian government on December 31, 1999.

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