Panama Canal

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What does the constructionof the Panama Canal show us?

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Faith in progressIndustrializationProgressivism

American ingenuityDesire to extend American influence abroad

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“Thus the canal project became a signal moment in the building of America’s new empire, and it also became a moment wrapped up inextricably with idealism and notions of selfless gifts to civilization.”--Julie Green in The Canal Builders (2009)

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Is American an empire?

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“Scholars have shown that many Americans, despite reluctance to describe their nation as an empire, fervently believed in expansionism since the founding of the Republic. Thomas Jefferson, for example, perceived expansion as essential for the continuation and blossoming of freedom.” (Green)

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Spanish War of 1898

As a result, U.S. acquired Puerto

Rico, Cuba, Guam, Hawaii

and the Philippines

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Roosevelt was an expansionist

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So Roosevelt orchestrated the independence of

Panama from Colombia.

He sent war ships and let it know he would support the independence movement in

Panama.

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There was criticism

“Stolen property.” -New York Times

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“If ever a government could be said to have received a mandate from civilization to effect an object the accomplishment of which was demanded in the interest of mankind, the United States holds that position with regard to the inter-oceanic canal.”

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“The Man Who Can Make Dirt Fly.”

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The President makes a visit to Panama in 1906.

First overseas trip by a President.

What does this photograph express?

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“The photograph represented to the world the values U.S. officials sought to associate with the canal project: American efficiency, technological superiority, conquest over nature, and leadership. Roosevelt’s journey to the isthmus, and his fleeting moment aboard the steam shovel, would prove a milestone in the history of the canal-- and a turning point in the effort to construct a triumphalist narrative of America’s role in the world.” (Green)

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“Perhaps only Roosevelt could have turned the situation around, for he brilliantly combined the great themes of the early 20th century: progressivism, optimism, masculinity, and a vivacious belief that America was destined to play a leadership role in world affairs.”

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“Whoever you are, if you are doing your duty, the balance of the country is placed under obligation to you, just as it is to a soldier in a great war. As I have looked at you, and seen you work, seen what you have done and are doing, I have felt just exactly as I would feel to see the big men of our country carrying on a great war. ...This is one of the great works of the world. It is a greater work than you yourselves at the moment realise.”

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The U.S. built the canalThey were given control of the Panama Canal Zone in perpetuity

1977 Treaty returned it to Panama in 1999.

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Expansion: Panama Canal 2013

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