Panama History and Culture Essay

Throughout the early 1900s the Marine Corps was becoming acquainted with the island of Hispaniola that was split between two nations, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Both nations had a political tradition that dictated office holding as a political right and economic requirement for the political class known as the elite and the caudillos. Consequently, both governments acquired a considerable amount of debt during this time period in order to sustain the habits of this tradition. The United States developed an active interest in Hispaniola following the War with Spain and the construction of the Panama Canal. The Roosevelt and Taft administrations were primarily focused with the traditional tasks of protecting American lives and property. However, the US government shifted its focus to economic and strategic concerns as the State and Navy Departments engaged in gunboat diplomacy, a foreign policy that is supported by the use or threat of military force. Among these concerns was European intervention and establishing bases throughout the Caribbean. The US would have to protect Haiti and the Dominican Republic simultaneously by denying European activity in the American sphere of interest and to preserve foreign investments for both the United States and Hispaniola.

The workers started off by creating a railroad to cross over and deliver items/tools for the workers to use, while building the canal. They have to dig through the jungle and flatten out land. Once they were done with that they would dig and make river and stream holes. The workers would blow up the land connection to the river/stream hole to the ocean. That is so the water could get through the continent. Most of the workers came from African Areas or South America Areas. TNT (the bomb) was the object the workers would use to blow up the river/stream hold to the ocean.

The relationship between the United States of America and Latin America nations has been turbulent since the beginning of colonization. The United States had withheld a sense of superiority since its inception. Their view of Pan-Americanism is only shared by them; Canada and most Latin American nations do not share this view. They viewed Latin America’s struggle for independence as a necessity, but did not pledge their assistance until it coincided with American interests and objectives in the area. The author mentions Latin America’s one-crop economy, but they do not emphasize the role the US played in their economies or how much they were involved in their own politics. Recent events, in regards to Cuba, have made certain parts of the chapter

Before the 1900s, in order to get from the Atlantic ocean to the pacific ocean, you had to go around South America then all the way up again to reach your destination. Everyone was getting tired of going the long way, until a French company that was lead by Ferdinand de Lesseps came up with the idea of making a canal through Panama. However, the French ended failing because of the obstacles that came their way. Later on the U.S. wanted to continue building the canal, plus they had more to gain from this canal. They got the permission to build a canal through Panama and began working. Of course many obstacles were faced, but finally on August 15, 1914, the canal was completed. Everyone was saying that the Panama Canal would change the face of

The Panama Canal in my opinion one of the greatest man made canal in the history of the world. The french attempted to make the canal but failed. In the year 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt pressured Columbia to declare Panama independent. Theodore did not care about the panamanians he cared about the land. Panama is an isthmus, an isthmus is a piece of land connecting two large land masses such as North and South America. People have been dreaming of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean for hundreds of years. John Findley Wallace resigned so President Theodore gave the job to someone else John Frank Stevens. Stevens had an idea instead of digging out the mountain they would build steps to get over it. They used railroads to move dirt, supplies, and machines. It took a while, however they used dams to block water, made artificial lakes so the boats could get across, gravity to fill the locks, and make locks. Locks are like steps, you fill it with water, open up the gates and keep getting higher.

The Panama Canal was originally started back in the 1880s by the French and is considered by some to be the 8th Wonder of the World. Construction may have started in the 1880s, but the idea for such a canal started long before that time. Surveying for the canal started all the way back in the 1550s. The idea for such a canal came from how inconvenient travel and trade was without the canal. Ships used to have to travel all the way around the southern tip of South America to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The French finally decided to try and build a canal between the two oceans after over 300 years of different surveys being down around the area. The French chose to build the canal through Panama. There were close to 22,000 deaths caused by disease or accidents in the construction of the canal. The French were plagued by Malaria, or yellow fever, and were given many setbacks throughout their 9 year effort to build the canal. This combined with the French attempt going bankrupt caused them to have to give up on the try. The United States then came to agreement and signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with the French, officially

Panama into two sections and contributed little to the Panamanian economy. The reason for this being is that those who lived within the Canal Zone, a five-mile-wide strip on either side of the canal, belonging to the U.S. and were either U.S. citizens or were West Indians working for the canal. Furthermore, the canal is 48 miles long and with a width of 10 miles, with the U.S. government having permission to acquire more land, the people of Panama are losing a vast strip of land which could be used for agriculture or other purposes.

The history was repeated eight decades later, also in 1904, the United States had concluded that the Panamanian army was a factor of socio-political disruption was necessary to eliminate.

The United States and Great Britain had been talking a way to ship goods a quicker and cheaper way between the Atlantic and Pacific coast. The United States were making their mind between putting the canal in Nicaragua and Panama. In 1850 the United States and Great Britain were negotiating a act named the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and proposed a canal through the Central American Republic of Nicaragua. There was a treaty named The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901 which abrogated the treaty of 1850 named Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and gave the United States the rights of building and managing their own canal. But also The United States was thinking in Panama.

The reason for the United States building the canal, was to prepare to go to war with Spain. The USS was ordered to leave California to head towards Cuba, but they realized that this trip would take 60 days and they would have to stop in South America numerous times for coal, before they would reach Cuba. After that, the U.S. knew that there had to be a route to take so they built the Panama Canal. Originally, the French started the Panama Canal in 1881, but they went bankrupt, so the United States agreed to pay for the costs and take up the construction. Columbia denied the United States the right to take over, which caused a revolt with the Panamanians. The Panamanians received their independence, which granted

In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt supported a Panamanian uprising that enabled the country to gain its independence from Colombia. Roosevelt promised that warships would be placed off the coast of Panama, allowing Panama to declare its independence on November 3rd. As a trade-off, Panama had conceded to the US sole rights to the isthmus. Following Panama’s declaration of independence, it entered into a treaty agreement with the United States

The Panama Canal was originally started back in the 1880s by the French and is considered by some to be the 8th Wonder of the World. Even though Construction started in the 18802 for the canal, the idea for such a canal started long before that time. The need for a canal through Central America started to surface in the 1500s when surveying for a canal to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans began. Trade and travel were very inconvenient at the time before a canal and sparked the craving for a canal to be built. Ships would have to travel all the way around the southern tip of South America to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans before the Panama Canal’s existence. The French were the first to try and build a canal between the

So as I said before the Panama canal was started 1903. It was President Theodore Roosevelt(26th president of the United States) idea. America and Britain needed, and wanted to ship good fast and cheap between the pacific and the Atlantic ocean. So they started to ask people to dig for them. About 22,000 people died and 5,609 out of the 22,000 died from different diseases. It is about 48 miles long, 41.2 ft deep, and 52 million gallons of water are in it. It takes about 8-10 hours for a boat to pass through it. And it also runs right past the capital, Panama city, because that is where a lot of ships go out. The Panama Canal is the highest tourist attraction in

In the 1500s the first settlers settled in an area near the Gulf of Fonseca this territory would later be known as El Salvador. Soon after the territory was conquered by Spanish rule in 1524 and ruled by King Charles I of Spain until their independence in 1838 (Background, 2012). Struggling with the new found independence this new nation was curse with constant revolutions and over-turning of governments (Background, 2012). Situated in the middle of the fresh region called Central America this sovereign state had neither major resources nor growing economy, whereas other nations had an industry to depend on once the colonial power leaves this nation was forced to start from scratch.

From the discovery of Panama by Rodrigo de Bastidas in 1501, Panama was a Spanish colony. After the independence from Spain on November 28th of 1821, Panama formed part of the Great Colombia due to fear of a possible reconquest by Spain, and the irresistible attraction of the glorious figure of the liberator Simon Bolivar. The Great Colombia, which consisted of what it is known today as Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, annexed Panama because Bolivar’s goal was to unite all Latin America as a confederation in defense of the continent against possible actions of the League of the Holy Alliance conformed by the European powers, and their claims of the territories that they have lost in America.