The Panama Canal

U.S. foreign relations texts typically emphasize Theodore Roosevelt's “Bowery-boy” behavior in acquiring the Panama Canal Zone (or Canal Zone). After negotiations with Colombia stalled, Roosevelt supported and diplomatically recognized Panamanian revolutionaries who sought independence from Colombia so that his administration could quickly sign a treaty with the new state of Panama allowing for U.S. construction and sovereignty over a canal running through the Isthmus. When congressional critics complained about Roosevelt's unsavory tactics, he denounced them as a “small body of shrill eunuchs.” Later he reportedly boasted, “I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate, and while the debate goes on the Canal does also.” Secretary of War Elihu Root retorted, “You have shown that you have been accused of seduction and you have conclusively proved that you were guilty of rape.”1 So colorful is the story and so seemingly clear are the lessons about Roosevelt's Big Stick policies that diplomatic historians may wonder why they need to improve upon the traditional narrative. But two new books demonstrate that there are different lenses through which to view the story of the Panama Canal (or Canal). In Seaway to the Future, Alexander Missal explores the “storytellers,” a group of “Panama authors” who changed the discourse surrounding the Panama Canal from one about Roosevelt's unsavory tactics to another about the transformation of a malaria-ridden swamp into a tropical utopia. In The Canal Builders, Julie Greene gives voice and agency to perhaps the most neglected actors in the story of the Panama Canal: the workers themselves. Like the highly popular photos taken of the Panama Canal in the early twentieth century that could be viewed through stereoscopes to achieve a three dimensional effect, Missal's and Greene's books add depth and perspective to our understanding of the imperial project in Panama, altering familiar political landscapes

Art · Independence (probability theory · Literature · Narrative · Panama canal · Political science · Treaty · Cuban History and Society · History · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law