Interventionism in the Isthmus of Panama in the Second Half of the 19th Century PDF

## INTERVENCIONISMO EN EL ISTMO DE PANAMÁ EN LA SEGUNDA MITAD DEL SIGLO XIX ### EL ORO DE CALIFORNIA Y LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DEL FERROCARRIL DE PANAMÁ - 24 de enero de 1848: James Marshall discovered gold in the current of a mill. - This event caused a human avalanche towards California and a commercial...

## INTERVENCIONISMO EN EL ISTMO DE PANAMÁ EN LA SEGUNDA MITAD DEL SIGLO XIX ### EL ORO DE CALIFORNIA Y LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DEL FERROCARRIL DE PANAMÁ - 24 de enero de 1848: James Marshall discovered gold in the current of a mill. - This event caused a human avalanche towards California and a commercial boom in the Isthmus of Panama. - By mid-19th century, the capital of the Isthmus was a place with no drinking water, no public lighting, dirt and dirty streets, and only a small hospital. - The economic crisis was overwhelming in the Isthmus. - Stories about the riches of the Gold Mines in California began to spread in the early 1849 both on the east coast of the United States and South America. - On February 28, 1849, the ship "California" anchored in the bay of San Francisco with around 365 passengers, starting the famous gold rush. - In August 1847, the “UNITED STATES MAIL STEAM LINE” was organized in New York with George Law and Marshall Owen Roberts as main stakeholders. - The company covered the route New York, New Orleans, and Chagres. - In April 1848, the “PACIFIC MAIL STEAM SHIP COMPANY” was established by a group of merchants led by William Henry Aspinwall. - This company covered the route from Panama to California. - The transit through the Isthmus covered the route from the port of Chagres to the town of Cruces and from there to the city of Panama. - It was a dangerous journey due to the river, the climate, insects, the insecurity in the canoes, the lack of amenities on the road, the fact that the trip was not completed in one day. - It was a long journey that turned into an odyssey. - Panama became, overnight, a crowded city where most of the houses were used as boarding houses due to the lack of hotels. - National and foreign capital invested in restaurants, game rooms, stores to serve the adventurers and gold seekers coming from both North America and Europe. - However, there were diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, and diarrhea. - Deaths were numerous and the gold-seeker did not always reach his destination. - Due to the difficult and unsafe transit from the port of Chagres to Panama, as well as the vertiginous increase of thousands of people in transit to California, Williams Aspinwall, Henry Chaunery, and John Stephens, with the government of New Granada, signed the STEPHENS-PAREDES Agreement on December 28, 1848 for the construction of the railway through the Isthmus. ### LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DEL FERROCARRIL TRANSÍSTMICO - The construction of the railway began in May 1850 and ended on January 27, 1855 at a cost of about 8 million dollars. - It was the first interoceanic railway in the world. - The Atlantic terminal point of the railway was Manzanillo Island where the city of Colon was founded on February 27, 1852, named Aspinwall City. - Until 1869, when the railway joining the east coast with the west coast of the United States was inaugurated, the PANAMÁ RAILBOARD obtained its own gold harvest. - The line charged exorbitant fares: $25.00 for adults and $12.50 for children under 6 years old, 5 cents per pound of personal luggage and $1.80 per cubic foot in express package. - Workers came from England, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, India, China, and Jamaica. - 50% of the workforce suffered from yellow fever, malaria, or dysentery at some point. - Long before the railway was finished, money started flowing into the company´s coffers. - In 1853, the company transported 32,111 passengers in 23 usable miles. - In 1854, with 31 miles completed, they transported 30,108 passengers. - By the time the railway was inaugurated in January 1855, the company had already earned more than a million dollars. - The benefits for Colombia were one million dollars at the time the Sthephens-Paredes Agreement was approved by the Colombian Congress and an annual payment of $250,000. - For the humble Isthmian workers and foreigners who had their restaurant businesses and lodges, the canoe operators in the Chagres River route, those who had their humble businesses in the town of Cruces, and the mule owners on the route from Cruces to Panama, all of them were affected by the inauguration of the railway. ### EL INCIDENTE DE LA TAJADA DE SANDÍA - The cost of a slice of watermelon worth five cents was the spark that led to a battle with many dead and wounded people on both sides. - Article XXXV of the Mailarino-Bidlack Treaty states that the citizens, vessels, and merchandise of the United States will enjoy in the ports of New Granada, including those of the Isthmus of Panama, all the franchises, privileges, and immunities in relation to commerce and navigation that the Granadian citizens presently enjoy. - The North Americans had the habit of treating the Latin Americans and the Europeans, except the English, as inferior beings and bragging about mistreating them. - This situation provoked a resentment among the inhabitants of the Isthmus against the arrogant "yankees" who were swarming through the Isthmus on their way to California. - While most of the emigrants behaved with some respect, the excesses of a irresponsible minority kept the Isthmus in commotion during the early years of the gold rush. - Many travelers carried firearms and quarrels among drunks were frequent. - The violence and bloodshed of these disturbances intensified the antagonism that already existed between Panamanians and North Americans. ### EL CANAL FRANCÉS - On January 14, 1869, Colombia and the United States of America signed a treaty for the construction of a canal through Panama, but the Colombian Congress didn’t approve it. - On July 8, 1870, Colombia approved a second treaty with modifications, but it was rejected by the US Senate. - In the early 1870s, the Isthmus of Panama experienced the effects of the economic collapse due to the loss of importance as a transit zone, aggravated by the opening of the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States in 1869. - On March 20, 1878, the Salgar-Wise Agreement was signed between the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eustorgio Salgar, and Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wise on behalf of the Civil Society of the Interoceanic Canal, granting exclusive rights to the French to build a canal and operate it for 99 years from the time the work was completed. - The canal should start operating within twelve years of forming a company to build it. - The President of the Republic had the power to extend it for six years in case the completion within the stipulated timeframe was impossible. - The transfer of the property to any other country without the consent of the Colombian government was prohibited. - The company couldn't meet its commitment. - In August 1881, the French bought 95% of the shares of the railway at a cost of B/. 25 million, 1/3 of the French company funds. - The work on the Canal began in January 1882, representing an injection into the Panama economy and the resurgence of its transit function. - The beginning of the work by the French caused great concern for the US government. - US President Rutherford Hayes sent a message to the US Congress stating that the policy of the country was to have a canal under US control, and therefore, could not allow any European power to take such control.. - The project designed by the Count Fernando de Lesseps (constructor of the Suez Canal) did not achieve the desired result, due to the errors made in both the study and the execution of the project. ### Conde Fernando de Lesseps - Lesseps' interest in building a canal at the same level as the Suez Canal, even though some serious studies demonstrated the feasibility of a canal with locks. - The maximum height in the Suez Canal line was 50 feet above sea level; in Panama, it was 330 feet. - In Suez, most of the excavations were in sand and soft earth; in Panama, they encountered many hard rocks and landslides, increasing the volume of excavations. - Both regions had high temperatures, but the dry heat of the desert didn't have the same effects as the suffocating humidity of the jungle. - Other factors that contributed to the failure of the Canal were: yellow fever and malaria, almost unknown in Suez; the purchase of 95% of the railway shares instead of renting them; the hiring of small companies that did not have the equipment and did not meet the deadlines, etc. - By 1885, the crisis of the company was evident—despite the efforts made in the following three years, the crisis was not overcome due to the lack of funds, embezzlement of funds, the discredit of the company, the endemic diseases, and the obstacle of the Culebra Cut. ### El Corte Culebra - On February 4, 1889, the Old Canal Company was taken to court. - On December 6, 1892, the Colombian government extended the deadline for ten years, from October 20, 1894 onwards. - The New Canal Company was organized and committed to completing the work by October 20, 1904. - Despite their efforts, they failed to complete the work, leaving the sale of their property as an alternative. - More than 40,000 workers came from Jamaica during the French stage to work on the construction of the canal. - The result of the failure of the French Canal left 14,000 workers unemployed. - The project did not reach its end, but during its construction, it changed the political, economic, and social landscape of Panama forever.