panama canal

at the end of the spanish-american war, the united states had acquired the philippines and hawaii. this made the nation a major power in the pacific. the navy now needed to find a way to move ships from the west coast to the east coast that was more efficient than going around the tip of south america. the solution was to build a canal — a waterway connecting two bodies of water - across central america to join the atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean.

in 1903, a revolution in panama gave the country its independence from colombia. president roosevelt now had the opportunity he needed to acquire a route for the canal, since the isthmus of panama is the narrowest piece of land in the americas. the u.s. government instantly recognized the new government of panama and signed a treaty that gave the united states a ten-mile-wide "canal zone" in exchange for a fee of $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000.