In 1904 the Senate approved for ratification a treaty with the new Republic of Panama giving the United States control of the Canal Zone in perpetuity. Secretary of State John Hay negotiated the treaty with Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a French engineer representing Panama. In 1978 the Senate approved for ratification two treaties transferring the canal to Panama in 1999.
General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration
Senate resolution ratifying the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, February 23, 1904
The Panama Canal
By the 1880s Congress considered a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans necessary for commerce and defense, but disagreements about its location stalled any action. Then the USS Maine exploded in Cuba. The battleship USS Oregon, stationed on the West Coast, took two months to reach the Caribbean to provide support in the Spanish-American War. The long voyage convinced Congress that a canal was imperative. In 1902 Congress authorized the purchase of a project initiated by France on land owned by Colombia, to complete construction of the Panama Canal.
I want . . . a bill to be passed here under which we will get a canal. There never was greater need for it than now. The Oregon demonstrated [that] to our people.
Senator John Spooner of Wisconsin, Speech to the U.S. Senate, June 18, 1902
In 1904 the Senate approved for ratification a treaty with the new Republic of Panama giving the United States control of the Canal Zone in perpetuity. Secretary of State John Hay negotiated the treaty with Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a French engineer representing Panama. In 1978 the Senate approved for ratification two treaties transferring the canal to Panama in 1999.
General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration
