Panama and the United States: The End of the Alliance

3. The French Period

The French Period On 18 August 1885 local authorities in Colon hanged a light-skinned mulatto named Pedro Prestan, ending one of Panama's bloodiest revolts of the nineteenth century, Months earlier, Prestan and another Liberal politician, Rafael Aizpuru, assumed control of Colon and Panama City to protest the election of Conservative Rafael Nunez in Bogota* U.S. troops had landed and helped the Colombian forces to subdue the population, their largest foreign military undertaking between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The invasion reinforced U.S. determination to keep the peace in Panama, despite the ongoing French canal project. It also left bitter feelings among Panama's Liberals, who accused the United States of partisanship , Today Prestan is held up as a hero for resisting the gringos and sacrificing his life for Panama. American Initiatives During the late 1860$ and 18705 the U.S. government continued to pursue the possibility of building a canal in Central America, focusing first on Panama and then on Nicaragua, A French group headed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, meanwhile, gained the edge and won a concession to build a canal in Panama. For the next decade the French project captured world attention, Ultimately the effort failed, killed by poor engineering, disease, and mismanagement. The U.S. government , cool toward the French enterprise all along, moved increasingly in the 18905 to a decision to undertake a similar project with public monies. The number of surveys increased and a decision emerged to pursue an existing Nicaraguan concession or buy out the French rights in Panama. Out of the 18908 arose the American commitment to build a Central American canaL 4i 3 42 PANAMA AND THE UNITED STATES The year 1869was the annm mirahilis of the transportation revolution . Both the Suez Canal and the transcontinental railroad across the United States were completed. The U.S. government, recovering from the devastating Civil War of 1861 to 1865, began to give more attention to improving maritime transportation between the East and West coasts. The spirit of Manifest Destiny—muted during the war—revived in the administrations of AndrewJohnson and Ulysses S. Grant, and a Central Americancanal became an important component of that spirit. President Grant tried very hard to conclude arrangements for building a canal in Central America, As a military man, he believed such a facility would enhance U.S. security, and he favored a canal under exclusive U.S. control and protection. He also thought it would contribute to human progress; as a young officer he had lost over one hundred soldiers and dependents to cholera in Panama, and he hoped a canal would help conquer the tropics. Further, he wished to go down in history as the creator of such a grand work. Finally, like most of his countrymen, he was suspicious of continued British influence in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.1 Talks regarding a canal treaty were already under way between Washington and Bogota when Grant moved into the White House, The Colombians had regained canal rights from the PanamaRailroad two years before and approached the State Department regarding a separate concession. With the impending completion of the Suez Canal, American interest in a Central American utility grew. In 1868 Secretary of State William Seward, described by one historian as an "arch expansionist/' sent an agent to Bogota with instructionsto sign such a treaty. These negotiations serve as a benchmark for comparison to terms extended to the French in 1878and to the United States in 1903.2 In general, the terms of the treaties signed by the United States and Colombia in 1869and 1870established that the canal would run through a twenty-mile-widezone, with free port facilities at both termini . Alternatingsections of land would be owned by Colombia and the builders (either the U.S.government or private U.S. interests). 43 The French Period This exclusive concession would run for one hundred years, and then the canal would revert to Colombian ownership. The waterway would be declared neutral in wartime, and other nations would be invited to recognize its neutrality. Still, canal protection was to be guaranteed by military forces of the United States acting jointly with Colombia, Any disputes between the parties would be resolved through arbitration. Colombia would receive 10 percent of the net profit from the canal operation until all the investment was amortized, after which its share would rise to 25 percent.3 Seward's...