The Eight Wonder — страница 2

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canal were the French. Ledby Fernindand Marie de Lesseps, France was the first country to actually work ondigging a canal, but Lesseps and his company went bankrupt in 1889, and thedigging stopped with no result. Lesseps, with his tail between his legs for havingfailed on his attempt to build a canal, and giving his country pride, reorganized allof the information of the terrain that he had gather while working in the isthmus andoffered its assets to the United States at a price of $40 million. Because presidentRutherford B. Hayes before dying solemnly stated that the United States wouldnever accept a canal under non-American control,2 the U.S. accepted Lessepsoffer. Then, after overcoming many problems (these will be mentioned later), andafter the Spooner Act, and act to provide

for the construction of a canal connectingtwo waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 3 the United States finally beganworking on the canal. In 1906 the decision of building a canal with locks instead ofa sea-level channel was approved by the U.S. Congress. President TheodoreRoosevelt put the construction work of the greatest natural resource 4 accordingto Panamanians, under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Col.George W. Goethals was named to head the project. The Panama Canal was in operation by the summer of 1914, almost twoyears ahead of schedule. The construction of the canal ranks as one of thegreatest engineering works of all time.5 Not only did the construction of the canalinvolved excavating an estimated 175 million cu yds. of earth, but also

sanitizingthe entire canal area, which was infested by mosquitoes that spread yellow feverand malaria. The final cost of the canal for the U.S. was $336 million and it involvednot only one but many countries and its ideas to complete. A task once said to be nearly impossible 6 became a reality. Now, as mentioned earlier, the United States went through many problemsbefore being able to build the canal. There was one obstacle: Panama belonged toColombia. Panama voluntarily became part of Colombia in 1821 after SouthAmerican countries revolt against Spain.7 But Colombia was never able to controlPanama completely because of the type of person the isthmus attracted- therootless, lawless, transient who obeyed no authority.8 In 1902, the U.S.government negotiated with the Colombian

government to obtain a strip of land, sixmiles wide across the isthmus to build a canal, but the Colombian Senate refusedto approve this settlement (the Hay-Herran treaty) because they knew that theUnited States wanted to fully control a canal if built. But then Panama, with theassistance of the U.S., overthrew Colombian rule on November 3, 1903 after abloodless revolt. Roosevelt supported the revolution to secure the right to build acanal for U.S. interest by sending troops to the isthmus and prevent a violent revolt.Panama s ties with the United States formally began on November 6, 1906, whenWashington extended recognition.9 Only three days before Panama, with theassistance of the United States, had overthrown Colombian rule. Roosevelt s handbegan to close around the Isthmus as

soon as he saw Colombia`s grip of Panamaslipping. It is best put by S.I. Hayakawa: We stole it fair and square… ,10 a U.S.senator, and where really the key word is stole . Fair and square is just theAmerican view of how the United States obtained the rights of the Isthmus. Not only after Panama gained its independence, was the United States able tobegging working on the Canal. On November 18 the United States and Panama signed a treaty giving the U.S. the right to dig the canal and the perpetual right tooccupy and control a strip of land on either side of the canal. In return, the UnitedStates paid Panama $10 million and agreed to pay $250 000 each year. Colombiajust got the right to use the canal free of charge. With the recognition of Panama, the United States guaranteed

Panama sindependence and most importantly, was given the right to intervene in case ofmilitary disorder and of foreign countries threats, in order to protect the canal andits benefits. This agreement between The U.S. and Panama gave the United Statesa lot of power. The canal offered many benefits, as dreamed before the canal was built.Obviously, the canal would make easier the mobilization of ships, since it wouldmake the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean a lot shorter. Also, it would enable the Atlantic coast to compete with Europe, on equal terms as distance, forthe markets of Asia 11 and reduce the distance to the western coast of LatinAmerica by half. The canal also provided the United States a great tactical spot fora navy base, such as that led by Lt. W.L