The United States acquired the land for the Panama Canal and the rights to build in Panama. In 1904 the president of the time, Theodore Roosevelt, bought the land for the canal from Panama. Before that Panama was part of Columbia and Colombia did not want to have the canal, so the US supported Panama in a rebellion to break away from Colombia. After Panama broke away from Colombia we paid $250,000 to Colombia to honor their agreement. The US also paid Panama $10 million to build the canal. The building of the canal began on May 4th. The Hay-Heran Treaty of 1903 stated that the US could build in Panama. We also paid the French $40 million for all of their equipment that they used to start the process.
In my opinion the Panama Canal has been a great asset to the Americas. It has shortened the trip from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by 13,000 KM.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/tr-lafeber/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal#United_States_acquisition.2C_1904
Comments
Good pictures but quite brief overall.