Panama_Canal

The Panama Canal has affected the outcome of the United States in many ways such as the economy and alliances with different countries around the world. The Canal has not only affected the United States economy in a huge way, it has also increased revenue in Panama. Even though there were major disputes in the construction of the Canal, without it the Unites States would not play as big as a role in trading as it does today. The Canal is a primary way of travel for trading around the world. The Panama Canal changed the way America was viewed by the world because it became a major economic power. To make the Canal more successful in October of 2006 the citizens of Panama voted to expand the Canal to allow for bigger ships and more trading. After the Canal undergoes construction it will be even more useful then it is today. The Panama has affected the outcome of the United States in many ways such as the economy and alliances with different countries around the world. The United States received most of the benefits, however Panama was expected too. The Panama Canal’s greatest profit was its effect of the trading between the west and east coast of the United States (http://hbswk.hbs.edu Maurer and Yu March 23 2011). Over 10% of United States shipping goes through the Canal daily, providing jobs for the U.S citizens because the products were made by U.S workers (http://www.cotf.edu NA March 23 2011). About five percent of the worlds trading goes through the Panama Canal Since the United States operated the canal, tolls were set to cover certain costs but were kept low to encourage canal use. Between 1975 and 1977, the payments reached $2.3 million a year (http://www.photius.com NA March 23 2012). After the Canal was opened for ten years the canal had about 5,000 ships go through it each year. Then, lighting was added in 1966 so ships could travel through the Canal during the night. The tolls original price was 90 cents per cargo ton, then in 1974 they were raised up to $1.08. The Canal’s average ship traffic is 14,000 ships per year, which is 40 ships per day. The Canal brings in about $420 million a year (http://www.upa.pdx.edu David C. Hanson, Virginia Western Community College). Furthermore, the Canal did help out the economy in Panama; the city’s convenient location next to the Canal has made it become one of the more prosperous economies in Latin America. The industrialization in the late 1800s increased the need to trade with other countries. Manufacturers set up their factories with assembly lines, which resulted in more products being produced then being purchased. The Panama Canal helped the companies that were mass producing by selling and trading their products overseas. The overseas trading produced many jobs for Americans. Central America was such a key spot for the Canal because it cut down the time of shipping, which made it so the ships could make more trips. This resulted in more products and businesses could earn more profit. Panama was still apart of Columbia, Roosevelt pushed Panama to declare independence from Columbia in fear the Columbia would stop the United States from building the canal in their territory. The United States backed up Panama by reassuring them that American warships would be sent to defend Panama from Columbia in case of an attack. Roosevelt offered Panama the same terms that he had offered Columbia, which was $10 million for the right to build the canal and $250,000 a year as “rent” for the Canal Zone (http://brtprojects.org March 23, 2011). The Panama Canal was thought to bring huge economic benefits to Panama. On the other hand, United States was the one the received more profit from the Panama Canal. Part of this was because the U.S would not allow Panamanian businesses to sell goods or services in the Canal Zone, it avoided the employment of Panamanian workers, and it used its military leverage to force Panama into accepting a low payment for the Canal territory (http://hbswk.hbs.edu March 25, 2011). The treaty that was signed in 1977 stated that the Canal had to be handed over to Panama in 1999. On December 31.1999 the U.S gave the control of the Panama Canal to Panama. During Roosevelt’s presidency the military took over the Dominican Republic and its customs houses. After Panama revolted against ruling Columbia, Roosevelt sent warships without Congress’s consent to support the Panamanians. “Roosevelt recognized the hastily created Republic of Panama and a treaty was negotiated giving the U.S the right to build the Panama Canal” (http://www.suite101.com March 24, 2011). Roosevelt was also involved with a lot of other conflicts such as the Philippine-American War which was conducted partly under Roosevelt’s leadership and almost completely without congressional consent (http://www.suite101.com March 25, 2011). Roosevelt also had many arguments with Japan which none of them were approved by the Senate or Congress. Before the Canal started construction, the Unites States were not the only ones interested in building a Canal. After the Suez Canal was constructed in Egypt, the French were extremely confident in their selves about connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. Ferdinand de Lesseps became in charge of building the Canal on January 1, 1880. The French were the first ones who tried to build a Canal through South America in 1882. Unfortunately their project failed because of workers dying and the company going bankrupt in 1888. The Unites States which were also interested in the Canal tried to buy the concession from the French, but Columbia which still controlled Panama refused the sale. Panamanians were eager for independence. An agreement was soon made where the U.S would help Panama gain their independence, Panama would allow the Canal to be built. In 1903, Panama became independent. Columbia immediately sent troops to reclaim Panama, but U.S had already sent down warships as a defense mechanism for the protection of Panama. Almost immediately after Panama gained independence from Columbia, a treaty was negotiated for the construction of the Panama Canal to begin. The treaty allowed U.s to have military within Panama and the U.S would control the Canal Zone. Unfortunately, the man who signed the treaty on behalf of Panama, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, was not actually apart of the official delegation from the Panamanian government. This caused some citizens of Panama fell that the rights that were granted on the behalf of the United States in the treaty were extreme. However, others could argue that if Bunau-Varilla was not ‘official’ he could not have signed the treaty. “Riots along the Canal Zone border erupt in 1964, claiming twenty lives. “Riots along the Canal Zone border erupt in 1964, claiming twenty lives. Panama breaks diplomatic relations with the U.S., prompting President Lyndon Johnson to begin negotiations for a new treaty” (http://www.presidentialtimeline.org NA May 10 2011). After the presidential inauguration, President Carter ordered a ‘Policy Review’ of the canal treaty negotiations that have been causing problems. Panama demanded payments from the U.S in May of 1977, which stalled the U.S in negotiating a new treaty. Torrijos agreed to the U.S proposal in mid-August of that year (http://www.presidentialtimeline.org NA May 10 2011). Finally, the Torrijos-Carter treaty was signed on September 7, 1977 (http://www.pocanticohills.org Terry Hongell - Pocantico Hills School May 10 2011). The treaty basically stated that the U.S had the right to defend the Canal no matter what and by midnight on January 1, 2000 Panama would be in full control of the Canal, except for the defense. Before the Panama Canal the popular way of transportation was the Panama Railway that was built between 1850 and 1855. The railroad was a key player in the idea to construct the Canal. The Panama Canal was actually constructed in two different stages. Stage one was built by the French between 1881 and 1888. The U.S completed the Canals construction between 1904 and 1914. In 1889, the French finally realized that they had failed at the construction of the Panama Canal. During their construction, the French excavated a total of 59.75 million cubic meters from the Culebra Cut. The French completed about $25 million worth of construction before they quit. When the U.S took over construction they found that the French left behind a bunch of materials such as machinery, housing, and even a small hospital. The disease carrying mosquitoes was a large factor in why the French quite the construction (http://www.eclipse.co NA May 11 2011). When Americans started their construction the main goal they had set was to try and keep the workers healthy. The Canal took over 600,000,000 pounds of dynamite and 4.5 million yards of concrete to build it. Also, the extra dirt that was dug up from the construction of the canal was decided to be used as soil for the building of the Gatun dam. The Gatun damn was off of the Chagres river, which eventually created the Gatun Lake. The longer the soil stays there, the stronger the dam wall becomes. After a couple years of construction, in June of 1906 the type of canal was decided. The Panama Canal would be a lock canal. The main problems during the construction of the Canal included Floods, mudslides, malaria, and yellow fever (http://www.sheppardsoftware.com NA May 11 2011) The Canal is set up by Locks which is a “stretch of water enclosed by gates, one at each end, built into a canal or river for the purpose of raising or lowering a vessel from one water level to another” (http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com). The Panama Canal has three main locks known as the Gatun, Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores locks (http://www.eclipse.co NA May 11 2011). The fist lock known as Gatun has two parallel sets of locks and each of them have three flights. The Gatun was originally 28.5 meters wide. In 1908 the U.S Navy requested the locks should reach up to a width of 36 meters. A compromise was finally set at 33 feet wide. “ The Pedro Miguel is the smallest lock, and the Miraflores is the second largest lock in the Canal. Each lock has about 53 million gallons of water in them. The U.S does not own the land of the Canal anymore, which means anything, can happen to it at any given time. The boats are wider then when they were when the canal was built. In September of 2007 work began on a $5.2 billion dollar project to expand the canal. The finish date is set for sometime in 2014. The upgraded Panama Canal will allow ships double the size they are now to pass through. This will dramatically increasing the amount of good passing through the Canal each day. The Canal will have two new sets of locks, one located on the Pacific side and the other on the Atlantic side. The new locks will have three chambers with each chamber having three water reutilization basins. The Gatun Lake and the deepening of Culebra Cut will also be achieved in the construction. Furthermore, In order to open a new 6.1 km-long channel to connect the Pacific locks and the Culebra Cut, four dry excavation projects will be preformed (http://www.pancanal.com NA May 11 2011)