History
The Spanish in the 16th century were the first to become interested in a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. At various times Spain drew up plans, but nothing came of them. When Spanish influence declined in South America, interest in a canal also declined and was not seriously revived until the 19th century. In this period several countries (particularly the United States, France, and Great Britain) began considering a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.
The California gold rush of 1849 led to the building of a railway across the Isthmus by the United States. In 1876 the French surveyed the area and in 1880 began work on a canal under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal. After extensive operations, the corporation building the canal went bankrupt. A new French company was organized in 1894, but its chief function was to sell the canal assets.
The Spanish-American War in 1898 caused the United States to recognize the military importance of a canal through Central America. In 1899 President McKinley established the Isthmian Canal Commission to study plans for a canal through Nicaragua. When the French agreed to sell their rights in Panama for $40,000,000, the United States Congress passed the Spooner Act in 1902, authorizing construction of a canal there. Panama was then a part of Columbia, which refused to ratify a canal treaty with the United States. With the encouragement of President Theodore Roosevelt, Panama declared its independence in 1903 and agreed to the construction of a canal through the isthmus.
The treaty signed by Panama (the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty) gave the United States a perpetual lease to the Canal Zone (a strip of land five miles [8 km] on each side of the canal); the right to build, operate, and protect the proposed canal; and the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of Panama to prevent political disorder. In return, the United States agreed to guarantee Panama's independence; provide sanitation for cities near the Canal Zone; and pay an initial sum of $10,000,000 and an annual rental of $250,000 (to begin 10 years after the date of treaty ratification). In 1939, the annual rent to Panama was raised to $430,000, and the right to intervene in Panamanian affairs was abolished. The annual rent was raised again, to $1,930,000, in 1955.
New treaties were agreed upon providing for partial control of the canal by Panama. However, the treaties were never ratified. Later negotiations resulted in two treatiesthe Panama Canal Treaty and the Neutrality Treatyboth ratified in 1978. By the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty, the United States turned over to Panama the territory occupied by the Canal Zone in 1979 and transferred the canal itself to Panama on December 31, 1999. The second treaty, the Neutrality Treaty, provided for the perpetual neutrality of the canal when it is operated by Panama.
The United States took over the canal property in 1904. Almost three years were spent in planning, construction of housing, and stamping out yellow fever and malaria, both transmitted by mosquitoes, which thrived in the wet, hot climate. By eliminating mosquito breeding areas, the army medical corps, under Colonel W. C. Gorgas, all but wiped out these diseases.
Early planning was carried out under John F. Stevens. From 1907 until the opening of the canal in 1914, construction was supervised by Colonel G. W. Goethals, an army engineer. During this period the labor force averaged almost 40,000 men, and massive machines were required to dig through solid rock. A temporary railway was built to transport men and supplies. Part of the canal had to be built through the continental divide, and frequent landslides endangered lives and slowed construction.
Maintenance work on the canal goes on continually. In 1955 Contractor's Hill, which was threatening to slide into the canal, was cut back. In 1962 a bridge over the Pacific entrance was completed, joining the two parts of land separated by the canal since 1914. A number of improvements have been undertaken, such as widening the Gaillard Cut and providing mooring facilities near some, of the locks. By the mid-1960's, increasing ship size and ship traffic made it apparent that the canal's size and capacity were no longer adequate. In 1970, a special commission recommended construction of a new sea-level canal.
