The Panama Canal - American History, 1493-1945

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"An Act of Sordid Conquest"

19 July 1904

View John Walker to Thomas Gibbons discussing the beginning of the Panama Canal construction project in the resource

At the time of the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, it was by far the largest engineering project that the United States had ever completed.

Within the Gilder Lehrman Collection are five letters of John Grimes Walker, distinguished Union naval veteran and President of the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1899. The letters date from 1902-1904 and discuss initial U.S. involvement with the Panama Canal. The early correspondence discuss the progress of the treaty with Columbia, and politician’s doubts about the financial viability of the endeavor whilst the later letters, such as this one, cover details of the organization of the construction force.

When the French began the undertaking in 1881, the land in question was part of the Columbian province of Panama. Diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had enjoyed huge profits from his construction of the Suez Canal, had raised the finances needed; however there were many aspects of the terrain that they failed to take into account. The jungle through which they were trying to build was dense and dangerous, and the climate caused machinery to rust. In 1889, after spending in excess of $280,000,000 and loosing a reported 22,000 lives, the French attempt went bankrupt.

The manner by which the Panama Canal project came to be under United States control was described by the New York Times as “an act of sordid conquest” and has since been described as representative of “Gunboat” U.S. foreign policy towards Central American States. Although a treaty had been drawn up by representatives of both Columbia and the United Sates and already signed by the latter, the Columbian President did not sign. The president of the French company selling the canal works informed President Roosevelt that there was rebellion in Panama, and that the Columbian government were worried that the U.S. would support the rebels financially in their labor for an independent Panama. At this stage Roosevelt changed strategy, and actively supported the independence of Panama, recognizing it as a state and signing the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty with its new government that granted the U.S. indefinite administrative control of the area.

The U.S. took official control of the canal in May 1904. This document is the latest letter in the Walker-Gibson collection, written two months later just as Walker prepares to sail for Isthmus. He tells Gibson “The work is so immense and there are so many very important questions to be settled.” Later in the letter he speaks of the political situation “You know, under the law this Commission has full power on the Isthmus--legislative, judicial, executive, military, etc. etc. . . . we shall be able to legislate as we find it necessary."

Although the U.S. administration of the canal made many health and safety amendments, the working and living conditions were still treacherous, and a further 5,600 workers died during the U.S. construction, which came to a cost of $375,000,000, rather higher than the $2,000,000 that Walker suggests in an earlier letter.

The canal was successfully completed and opened officially on 15 August 1914 with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon. It has been an iconic waterway of the world ever since.

The Politics and Construction of the Panama Canal