PANAMA REVOLUTION

PANAMA REVOLUTION. After winning independence from Spain in 1821, Colombia faced secessionist moves by its province of Panama, separated by impassable jungle from the rest of the country. Throughout the nineteenth century, Panamanian nationalists rebelled against rule by distant Bogotá. As the prospect of a transisthmian canal began to seem real, they heightened their struggle, hoping for control over this major potential source of revenue.

On 3 November 1903, after the Colombian senate voted to reject a treaty that would have given the United States broad control over a canal, Panamanians launched a revolt. They were led by two groups: officials of the Panama Railroad, held by the French-owned New Panama Canal Company, which sought to benefit financially from selling the rights to build a canal; and leaders of the oligarchy, who hoped for political control of the area once free from Colombia's rule. The rebels were quickly victorious, aided by the presence of American warships sent to intimidate Colombia. On 6 November, President Theodore Roosevelt recognized the new Panamanian regime led by Manuel Amador, who had previously visited the United States seeking promises of assistance. The new government quickly signed a treaty granting all concessions sought by Roosevelt, permitting construction of the Panama Canal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Farnsworth, David N., and James W. McKenney. U.S.-Panama Relations, 1903–1978: A Study in Linkage Politics. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1983.

LaFeber, Walter. The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective. Updated ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Major, John. Prize Possession: The United States and the Panama Canal, 1903–1979. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Max PaulFriedman

See alsoPanama Canal ; Panama Canal Treaty .