te treaty. It called for Great Britain to give the United States the right to act independently in the development of an Atlantic Pacific waterway. Why did the British agree to the treaty? They were tied up in the Boer War in South Africa and didnt want to split the bill on a canal? (Dolan 63)Now congress had to decide on where to dig the canal. The two main choices were Panama and Nicaragua. Just days before the vote on the canal site, Philipee Benau-Varilla obtained ninety Nicaragua stamps that pictured a railroad dock with an active volcano in the background, and sent them to all of the senators with a message: An official witness of the volcanic activity in Nicaragua. (Mcneese 78) Did it work? Panama got the go ahead.The United States now to get permission from Columbia to dig in Panama. In 1902, John Hay, the U.S. Secretary of State began negotiate with the Colombian government. An agreement was finally reached in January 1903 in the signing of the Hay-Banau-Varilla Treaty, which granted the United States a strip of land 6 miles wide along the general route laid out by de Lesspes. The U.S. had the right to administer and police this zone. In return they would pay the Colombian government $10 million, and after nine years of operation Columbia would get an annual fee of $250,000. (Dolan 63)The treaty had to be ratified in both the U.S. and Columbia before it could take affect. The U.S. gave its approval in March 1903, but the Colombian Congress said there was not enough money for the right to dig in Panama. They wanted an additional $5 million from the Americans. They also objected to many of the points on the administration of what was now known as the Canal Zone. (Dolan 64)When the Columbian Government refused to ratify the treaty, Panama revolted because they feared the United States would build through Nicaragua. After they declared their independence from Columbia, President Theodore Roosevelt ensured the success o...
