Why did the US give up the Panama Canal? (Short Animated Documentary)

In 1977 Jimmy Carter agreed to the United States returning the Panama Canal back to Panama by 2000. He agreed to the transfer in return for nothing. So why did he do this? Why did the USA return the Panama canal for free?

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[TheBluetwo]

Also keep in mind that part of the treaty stipulates that the US is allowed to take complete control over it, the canal zone and remiliterize the canal at any point if there is a threat to US or Panamanian sovereignty. So although it was given 'for free' with a lot of political benefits, it has a return policy.

[Quetzal-obvn]

One thing I would like to know about is why the Central American federation failed because it seemed like something that would work

[Younima]

Multiple ideas for videos:
Why did Denmark lose Iceland?
Why did Brazil lose its Monarchy?
Why did Ethiopia give up Eritrea?
Why did Thailand join the Axis?
Why did the South stay with the Union (Post War)?
Why was Iran so weak (Pre-Pahlavi)?
Why didn't the Chinese Empire Develop?

[PakBallandSami]

From the first Senate resolution in 1835 favouring Nicaragua until the dramatic change of location for the canal in the Spooner Act, the American public and government had consistently and overwhelmingly supported a canal through Nicaragua. That the canal was built in Panama is primarily attributable not to the intrinsic merits of the Panama route but to the ingenuity and zeal of two remarkable men who worked separately toward a common goal: the French engineer Phillipe-Jean Bunau-Varilla and the American lawyer William Nelson Cromwell.

[jakekn]

The ship zooming by at 2:46 is the funniest thing I've seen today 😂

[masonm]

1:07 "This forced him to respect their wishes and OH WAIT, NO. Rebels."
Liking the new interrupt phrase!

[somebodywhoateapie]

Man, I totally believed the "this forced him to respect their wishes" line. I think this might be the first History Matters fake out that I've genuinely fallen for.

This video was like an early Easter Egg, as a Panamanian I never expected him to talk about this topic, it must be said that he skips some important facts, but to be a summary it is acceptable; On the other hand, I am glad to see the history and the beautiful flag of my country, finally on this channel. By the way, for those who think that everything was caused by US interference in the country, they are wrong; We had up to 17 failed attempts to separate from Colombia throughout the 19th century, their union never benefited us (the flames were always on), so the refusal to build the canal was "the drop that spilled the glass of water" and The United States took advantage of it quite well, we both came out winning. XD

[P.K.theOrdinaryCommenter]

Here are some ideas for future videos:
- Why did Thailand join the Axis?
- Why does the Gambia exist?
- Why did Thailand never get colonized?

[SensaiRyu]

Fun fact about the war for Panamanian Independence was that it was fought entirely by the USA consisted of only one shot from one cannon from one battleship and this shell killed only one guy and a goat....cant make this stuff up.

[centredoorplugsthornton]

A railroad across Panama was built and opened in 1855, predating the canal by decades. It still operates though totally rebuilt after years of decline and closure during the 1980s and 90s.

[DardanellesBy]

I found this one funnier than usual. The line “even those dirty commies can us it” found in that letter and the speeding aircraft carrier through the canal were very good. Great video as usual!

[SpaceMonkeyBoi]

While the future of the Panama canal was uncertain, the government decided to give the ownership to James Bisonette, as his vast wealth would be enough to maintain the canal for centuries. I hope you enjoyed this video and thank you for watching, with a special thanks to my patrons:
James Bisonette
James Bisonette
James Bisonette
James Bisonette
James Bisonette
James Bisonette
Kelly moneymaker
And James Bisonette

[davidsamudio]

also Panama's economic backbone is pretty south east of the Canal, Panama funcionally is a City state around the canal, there are other two Major Cities, one is Colon, wich because of hard access caused by the mountainrange and the jungle, Kinda has becamed a backwater, and David, is the Capital of the province of chiriqui, every other city has its little economy, but no one nearly as big as the Panama City, and I say funcionally a city state because around 30% of the total population lives in the Capital of the country

[joedellinger]

I visited the former Canal Zone in 1983 and everywhere you heard the sounds of chainsaws. The zone had been left mostly forested; outside it was deforested. The boundaries of the former zone were obvious… it was the boundary of the forest. It appeared that the Panamanians, having gotten their land back, were eager to strip it of trees so that it matched the rest of the country…

The other amazing thing was how much of the original technology from 1914 was still used in the lock controls. Because it still worked and was more reliable than more modern technology would have been! (edit — I should add we got a tour inside the Gatun lock control house because we had a relative who worked there.)

[LuccianoBartolini]

Things the channel didn't cover:

1.- There were plans for Gran Colombia to make the Panama Canal as well, but they didn't have the money and they didn't want foreign countries to make it (for the exact reason the US did it) so it wasn't made then.

2.- Colombia didn't do nothing because it was in the middle of a Civil War (the 1000 Days War) and both sides were so desperate to win that they were even willing to sell Panama to the US in exchange of help, seeing how it went, it still didn't matter because Colombia was too busy fixing itself to do anything about Panama.

[wickiei]

the scene at 2:45 with the sound effect is just perfect. Top notch humour

[michaelj]

I would be interested in a video on the China-Vietnam conflict shortly after the US left Vietnam and how it ties in to Cambodia/Khmer Rouge.

[firstnamelastname]

I've taken classes with the guy that negotiated the handover for the USA. Really interesting guy, would casually bring up his friend Jimmy every once in a while.

[terrabter]

Here's a fun video idea: top 10 messiest border regions and how it ended up that way. There's one between Belgium and the Netherlands, a bunch of enclaves within the Netherlands belonging to Belgium.

Also, stellar job as always