Hay-Herrán Treaty

Hay-Herrán Treaty was signed by Secretary of State John M. Hay and Dr. Tomás Herrán, the Colombian minister, on 22 January 1903. It allowed the French-controlled New Panama Canal Company to sell its option on a canal route through Panama to the United States. In addition, Colombia would give the United States a 100-year lease on a ten-kilometer-wide strip of land across Panama for construction of a canal. The United States agreed to pay Colombia $10 million and an annuity of $250,000 starting nine years after ratification of the treaty. The U.S. Senate approved the treaty in March 1903. In August of that year, however, the Colombian Senate rejected the treaty. The primary arguments against the treaty centered on the question of money and issues of Colombian sovereignty. President Theodore Roosevelt was furious at the Colombian action, and in November 1903 a revolution broke out in Panama that resulted in its independence from Colombia. Shortly thereafter, the United States signed an agreement with Panama giving America the right to construct a canal through that country.

Bibliography

Lael, Richard L. Arrogant Diplomacy: U.S. Policy Toward Colombia, 1903–1922. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1987.

Miner, Dwight C. The Right for the Panama Route: The Story of the Spooner Act and the Hay-Herrán Treaty. New York: Columbia University Press, 1940.

Map of Panama, with Panama canal

The Hay-Herran Treaty was a treaty signed on January 22, 1903 between Secretary of State John M. Hay of the United States and Dr. Tomás Herrán of Colombia. Had it been ratified, it would have allowed the United States to acquire a renewable 99-year lease on a 6-mile wide strip across Panama (which was then part of Colombia) for $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000.^[1][2][3] It was ratified by the United States Senate on March 14, but it was not ratified by the Senate of Colombia, and did not go into effect.

It has been considered by later observers that this happened mainly because Herran had negotiated the treaty with little government or legislative oversight. It has also been mentioned that many of the politicians and congressmen found the amount offered to fall short, considering that the United States was willing to pay $40 million for the New Panama Canal Company.^[4][5]

The United States government was not willing to renegotiate the treaty with Colombia or alter the amounts involved and soon gave its support, both political and military, to a planned uprising in Panama, which led to its independence and to the eventual construction of the Panama Canal.

See also

• Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
• Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
• Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty
• John Hay
• Panama Canal

References

1. ^ http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2604/rsvlt.htm
2. ^ http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2003/kitty_hawk_1.html
3. ^ http://www.denison.edu/collaborations/istmo/n07/articulos/canal.html
4. ^ http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article?tocId=207505&query=Panama%20City&ct=%22ebi%22
5. ^ http://www.mssu.edu/international/Latinam/canal.htm

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