Panama Canal Did President Roosevelt 'Steal' the Canal or Obtain It Fairly? Library of Congress The issue

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  Arguments in support of Roosevelt's acquisition of the Panama Canal: The revolution in Panama could have disrupted transit across Panama, on which many Americans depended for travel between the east and west coasts of the U.S. Roosevelt was therefore right to send warships to Panama to prevent that from happening. He was also right to help the Panamanians in their fight against Colombia, which had long oppressed them. Furthermore, a canal across Panama was vital to U.S. interests, and any course of action was justified to build the canal.
  
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  Arguments opposing Roosevelt's acquisition of the Panama Canal The U.S. fostered the Panamanian revolution with the goal of negotiating a canal treaty with the new Panamanian government. That was proved by the fact that the U.S. sent warships to Panama even before the revolt officially began. The U.S.'s actions violated an 1846 treaty the U.S. had signed with Colombia, in which the U.S. pledged to help Colombia uphold its sovereignty over Panama, and amounted to a declaration of war against Colombia. As such, it meant the president had usurped the exclusive right of Congress to declare war.
  

In 1903, the U.S. began negotiating with the South American nation of Colombia to build a canal across Panama, then a Colombian province. As canal negotiations appeared to be on the brink of failure, Panamanians, who wanted to ensure the canal was not built elsewhere, declared their independence from Colombia. One of the new nation's first acts was to approve a treaty granting the U.S. the right to build a canal across Panama. However, while most Americans were in favor of the canal, a number of people criticized President Theodore Roosevelt (R, 1901-09) for the way the U.S. had obtained permission to build; critics accused him of encouraging, or even engineering, the Panamanian revolution to secure the canal.

Panama is an isthmus located in Central America, which connects North and South America and is sandwiched between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. European nations had long sought a canal across Central America to facilitate trade with Latin America and Asia. Without a canal, merchants had to either sail around the southern tip of South America or disembark on one coast, cross Central America by land with their cargo and load it onto another ship on the other side. A canal linking the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea, and thereby with the Atlantic Ocean, would make travel and transport quicker and easier.

The U.S. Congress had also begun considering a canal, but deemed it too expensive to build. However, toward the end of the 19th century, Americans had become convinced of the necessity of a canal to shorten travel time between the U.S.'s east and west coasts as well as to the Pacific. There were several possible routes for a canal, but the two main contenders were Panama, the narrowest part of Central America, and Nicaragua, hundreds of miles closer to the U.S.

Congress decided to pursue the Panama route for the canal, and the U.S. and Colombia signed a canal treaty in early 1903. However, Colombia demanded more money at the last minute, thereby defeating the treaty and reviving the idea of Nicaragua as a viable location. Faced with the prospect of losing the canal to Nicaragua, as well as the jobs and revenue that it would bring, a group of Panamanians began considering declaring independence from Colombia. Rumors of revolution swirled in the summer of 1903.

Amid fears of a Panamanian revolt, Roosevelt sent several warships to the coast of Panama in late October. The president maintained that such action was necessary to protect U.S. transit across the isthmus, particularly along the railway across Panama, in case of conflict. The ships were ordered to keep both Colombians and Panamanians from causing trouble.

As rumored, in early November the Panamanians staged a revolution. The U.S. warships prevented Colombian troops from landing in Panama, and high mountains and dense jungles prevented the troops from reaching Panama by land. With no Colombian troops to put down the revolt, it was quick and bloodless, lasting only a day before Panama declared itself an independent state.

Two days later, the U.S. officially recognized Panama, and canal negotiations started within days. Two weeks after Panama declared its independence, the U.S. and Panama concluded a canal treaty, which Panama's congress approved in December. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty in February 1904.

The Panama Canal connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. Army