How the US Created a Country for a CanalThe political maneuver behind an engineering marvel.

From the show

Hidden Sides of History

The Panama Canal is remembered as a feat of American engineering, but its creation depended on a political power play. When Colombia rejected the U.S. treaty to build the canal in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt supported a separatist revolution. The U.S. Navy blocked Colombian forces, leading to the birth of Panama. The new nation then granted the U.S. the rights to the canal zone, revealing the imperialist strategy behind the celebrated achievement.