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After years of neglect by the declining world power, Spain, Panamanians declared their intention to seek independence from the European nation on November 10, 1821. 18 days later on the 28th of the month, Panama declared its independence from Spain. At this point, the Panamanians were unsure as to whether they should remain a part of the Republic of Colombia, as they had been under Spanish control, or join forces with Peru. Under the 1821 Constitution of Cúcuta, Panama became an official part of the Republic of Colombia, along with Venezuela and New Granada (modern-day Colombia) under the leadership of Simon Bolivar. In 1822 Ecuador would also become a part of this Republic, which came to be known as Gran Colombia. In 1826, Bolivar honored Panama by making it the site of a special congress featuring all the newly liberated Latin American countries.
However, not all was rosy with this new arrangement. In September of 1830, under the guidance of General Jose Domingo Espinar, upset because he was ordered to transfer to another command by the centralized government, Panama separated from the Republic of Colombia only to return shortly thereafter after Bólivar called for the country’s return to the republic. This was accomplished by early 1831.
In July of that year, General Alzuru became supreme military commander of the Isthmus of Panama and declared its independence from New Granada (Colombia). However, Alzuru’s administration lasted only one month. The general was assassinated and the country, this time under the leadership of Colonel Tomas Herrera, reestablished its ties with Bolivar’s liberated nations.
However, Herrera would separate from Colombia in 1840 after a civil war. The country, reunified with New Granada on December 31, 1841. A few years later - in 1846 - Colombia and the United States signed the Bidlack Mallarino Treaty which granted the US rights to build railroads through Panam. This also granted the USA the right to intervene militarily if Panama tried to secede again.
By 1855 the United States had completed the world’s first transcontinental railroad, the Panama Railway. During the years of 1850 to 1903, when the Bidlack Mallarino Treaty expired, the US government quelled a plethora of social disturbances in Panama including the Watermelon War of 1856. During the 1880s, the first attempts to build a sea-level canal were undertaken by the French. However, due to illness and engineering challenges, these were abandoned. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, convinced Congress to take the project on. At this time Colombia was in the midst of the Thousand Days War.
During that conflict, Panamaians struggled to attain independence from Colombia, which had become Gran Colombia by this time. The US, which had originally supported Colombia’s claim to keep Panama part of Gran Colombia, switched sides and backed the Panamanians in their quest for independence. In November of 1903, the United States helped Panama take its first step to sovereignty. A few weeks later, the two countries signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty allowing for construction of a canal and U.S. sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the Panama Canal Zone. The United States would build the canal, administer, fortify and defend it “in perpetuity.”
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