Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
began the construction of a
railway
across Panama. Carving a route through the inhospitable
swamps and rainforests proved immensely difficult - thousands of the mostly Chinese and
West Indian migrant workers died in the process - but when the railway was completed in
1855, the Panama Railroad Company proved an instant financial success, earning $7 million
in profit in the first six years, despite having cost $8 million to construct. The railway also
marked the beginning of a new era in foreign control: within a year, the first
US military
intervention
in Panama had taken place.
THE WATERMELON WAR
The completion of the railroad left many Panamanian labourers, including the new im-
migrant workforce, unemployed and resentful of their well-paid US counterparts, some of
whom showed scant respect for their hosts or local customs. On April 15, 1856, tensions
spilled over. An intoxicated (white) American named Jack Oliver, who had been killing
time in the bars waiting for the boat, grabbed a slice of
watermelon
from a local (black)
stall holder and refused to pay. When the trader drew a knife, Oliver's mate tossed a dime
at him, further enraging the merchant, and as he advanced on Oliver, the latter drew a gun.
An attempt to disarm the American resulted in a bystander getting shot, prompting a full-
scale anti-US
riot
. Many Americans holed up in the railway depot and gunfire was ex-
changed with the crowd, which was attempting to batter down the door. Rather than con-
trol the situation, the
police
joined in the affray, which continued until a trainload of the
vigilante
Isthmus Guard
arrived to disperse the mob. While the number of casualties in
the so-called “Watermelon War” - 17 dead and 29 wounded, predominantly American -
was not disputed, blame for the violence was. Amid claims and counter-claims of racism,
the US government dispatched two warships to Panama and occupied the railway station -
though only for three days - but their demand for total control of the railroad was refused.
The French canal venture
In 1869 the opening of the first transcontinental railway in the US reduced traffic through
Panama, but the completion of the
Suez Canal
that same year made the long-standing dream
of a canal across the isthmus a realistic possibility. Well aware of the strategic advantages
such a waterway would offer, Britain, France and the US all sent expeditions to seek a suit-
able route. The French took the initiative, buying a concession to
build a canal
, as well as
purchasing the Panama Railroad, from the New Granadan government. In 1881, led by ex-
diplomat
Ferdinand de Lesseps
, the driving force responsible for the Suez Canal, the Com-
pagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique began excavations.
Despite de Lesseps' vision and determination, the “venture of the century” proved to be a
disaster, not least because of his technical ignorance and arrogance. In the face of impass-
able terrain - forests, swamps and the shifting shales of the continental divide - the proposed
