A Brief History
On January 9, 1964, a riot broke out between Panamanian nationalists and American Canal Zone Police and US Military forces stationed in the Canal Zone after a Panamanian flag had been torn during a confrontation between the Panamanians and Canal Zone Police.
Digging Deeper
As the riot and violence grew, US Army troops were called in to quell the riot, leading to three days of fighting that left about 22 Panamanians and four Americans dead.
Panama had gained its independence with the help of the US in 1903, for the American aim of building the Panama Canal. A “Canal Zone” was established with American sovereignty which irritated many patriotic Panamanians. Opened in 1914 largely as a way for US Navy ships to more easily transit between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the canal became somewhat obsolete as the size of aircraft carriers and huge cargo and tanker ships eclipsed the dimensions of the canal.
Negotiations between Panama and the US took place between 1974 and 1977, with the US agreeing to turn full over control of the canal and the Canal Zone to Panama, which happened in 1999. By 2016, the canal had been updated and somewhat expanded.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Should the US have never given up the Panama Canal?
If you liked this article and would like to receive notifications of new articles, please feel welcome to follow History and Headlines on Facebook and X!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Lasso, Marixa. Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal. Harvard University Press, 2019.
McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. Simon & Schuster, 1978.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of rioters grouping on President Kennedy Avenue, Panama City, in full view of the U.S. Army troops guarding the Panama Canal Zone border, during the January 1964 riots, is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.