Can you imagine an allience in South America rivaling NATO, NAFTA or OPEC? A country dominating the international markets of crude oil, exports of bananas and coffee, abundunt natural resources. A country with access to the two biggest oceans, shared language and history. But wait a second… what Panama has to do with it..? In this article I discuss how building a canal brought independence and review one of the greatest dissapointments in the history of South America.
Precursor of the events
I am talking about the period in history which is known as Spanish American wars of independence, which lasted roughly 20 years. There were many direct and undirect causes such as Napoleonic wars in Europe, the general discontent of people with Spanish rules, and the philosopical ideas of the Enlightement. It was the time when new nations were forming alliances, sawing seeds of future conflicts and simply figuring out how to live independently. In the 18th century, the royal Spanish family Bourbons had changed the colonies’ trade policies (keeping that monopoly to itself) and preferred to see peninsulares on administrative positions. This spurred debates among colonial elites, although this wasn’t enough for the outright revolt. Only the invasion of Iberean penincula by Napoleon served as a decisive factor.
Gran Golombia
Colombia had evolve to an administrative and political center of the northern part of South America in the middle of 16th century. First it was Kingdom of the New Granada, then Gran Colombia in 1819 (which encompassed Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela y Panama). Besides the capital status, it inherited a very diverse and geographically spread-out territories. Besides military conflicts with Spain the region was going throug civil wars, where Loyalists (or Royalists, the supporters of Spain) fought Patriots (the insergents). The whole continent was going through the phases of statehood formation, finding identity, and forming relationships with the neighbors. These new challenges proved to be complex, espesially for such countries like Gran Colombia with geographically large and ethincally diverse population. Short lived Gran Colombia dissolved into different countries by 1831.
Separatist’s movements
So far we’ve been talking more about Colombia, but what about Panama?
After dissolution of Gran Colombia a new alliance between these two countries had emerged – the republic of New Granada. But Panama always felt isolated from the Bogota and its authority due to several reasons. The geographical remoteness and intensified political instability in Colombia caused these two countries to start drifting away.
Once independent from Spain, Colombia found itself in a struggle between two ideological systems: federalism and centralism. The elites in the capital tended more toward centralism, making regions to be fully dependent from the decisions taken in Bogota. This hindered the commercial and tributary relationships not just with Panama, but Cartagena and Cucuta. Inevitably it led to a different interests. Just like any historic event has many points of view, the contentious relationship between Panama and Colombia is not a exception. Generally speaking there are two views existing on this topic: some scholars claim that Panamanians matured into independence by the beginning of 20th century, while others propose that only the US contribution helped achieving independence from Colombia. It’s safe to assume that both are right- by 1903 Panama had tried to gain independence several times, on the other hand the military backing of the US navy ships and international recognition assisted in cutting ties with Bogota.
– Fernando Aparicio, historian of University de Panama
Events in Bogota [the centralization of the conservatives] created opportunities for Panamian separation to happen. The War of Thousands Days was a nail on the coffin that finished to peel the union.
Panama Canal
The idea of connecting the two mightiest oceans-Pacific and Atlantic had been in the heads of governments for a long time. The first person who successfully crossed from one ocean to the other was Núñez de Balboa, through the Isthmus of Panama in 1513. This laid the foundation for the Spanish trade between Europe and Asia. Although strenuous labor of unloading, hauling, loading back on the ship in dense and inhospitable jungle was a nightmare, it established the trade with China through Manila.
With the sweeping innovations of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, already completed at the time the Suez Canal, the French were eager to tap on the potentials of building a canal in Panama. In 1880 Fernando de Lesseps ambitiously begun the construction. 8 years, 20 thousands deaths (mostly African slaves) and innumerable landslides later, the French exhausted their finances and gave up of the idea.
By the beginning of the 20th century the growing super power of the US had already participated in Spanish-American war, by gaining military experience in Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Cuba. Seeing financial, commercial, and military opportunities that can be reaped by having access to Isthmus of Panama, the US (with their own agenda) aided to independence movements of Panama. When the proposed purchase of the canal zone was rejected by Colombian congress, the US essentially made a deal with Panama offering them support in gaining independence. Panamanians seized the moment and declared their country independent (with couple US navy ships harboring the waters). The blue print of the agreement between two countries (which Panamanians never signed, the signer was Philippe Bunau-Varilla, an extraordinary character in the eyes of the History) declared the strip of the land between the oceans be transferred to the US in perpetuity. What does perpetuity means? Well, I read it as “forever”.
This time the construction of the canal was successful due to many lessons learnt. The change of the plan from sea-level based to the lock-based, eradication of malaria, the installation of railroad to haul away the dirt to avoid landslide had helped in completing the canal in 1914. Eventually the perpetuity had ended in December 31st 1999 when the canal was finally handed back to its rightful owner.
The cast system of Spanish America
| Peninsulares | Spaniards who were born in Spain |
| criollos | Spaniards who were born in the New World |
| mestizos | Descendants from a Spaniard and Native American |
| mulattos | Of African and Spanish descent |
| Native Americans | Indigenous Native Americans |
| African and enslaved people | Self-explanatory term |
Final thoughts
History knows many examples when a powerful country exploits a situation and turns it into opportunity to gain more influence, money, status (underline which fits you). Whether it’s Osman demeanor of Balkans in the Middle Ages, partitions of Poland in the 18th century or flexing military muscle on the Eastern border of Ukraine. Sometimes something negative needs to happen in order to change things for the better. There are historic regrets of not having a strong alliance in the north of South America, but without Napoleon, the Spanish American Independence could have been delayed, without the US Panama independence could have come later or even never.