Zona del Canal de Panamá

"Zona del Canal" vuelve a dirigir aquí. Para ver la película, vea Canal Zone (película) . Para la región no oficial de Egipto, consulte Canal de Suez .

Former unincorporated territory of the United States surrounded by the Republic of Panama

Coordenadas : 9 ° 07′04 ″ N 79 ° 43′13 ″ W / 9.11778°N 79.72028°W / 9.11778; -79.72028

Zona del Canal de PanamáZona del Canal de Panamá
1903-1979
Bandera Sello
Lema:  La tierra dividida, el mundo unido
Estado	Territorio no incorporado de los Estados Unidos
Capital	Balboa
Lenguajes comunes	Español , ingles
Demonym (s)	Zonian
Historia
• Establecido	1903
• Desestablecido	1979
Divisa	Dólar estadounidense balboa panameño (tolerado)
Precedido por Sucesor Estado de panamá Panamá
Hoy parte de	Panamá

La Zona del Canal de Panamá ( español : Zona del Canal de Panamá ) era un territorio no incorporado de los Estados Unidos desde 1903 hasta 1979, centrada en el Canal de Panamá y rodeado por la República de Panamá . ^[1] La zona consistía en el canal y un área que generalmente se extendía cinco millas (8.0 km) a cada lado de la línea central, excluyendo la ciudad de Panamá y Colón , que de otra manera habrían estado parcialmente dentro de los límites de la Zona. Su frontera abarcaba tres de las provincias de Panamá.. Cuando se crearon los embalses para asegurar un suministro constante de agua para las esclusas, esos lagos se incluyeron dentro de la Zona.

A pesar de ser territorio de los Estados Unidos, la Zona no tenía restricciones fronterizas formales para los panameños que transitan hacia la mitad de su país o para cualquier otro visitante. Una valla del Canal de Panamá existía a lo largo de la carretera principal, aunque era sólo una medida de seguridad para los peatones separados de tráfico, y algunos de los territorios de Estados Unidos fue más allá de ella. En la Ciudad de Panamá, si no hubiera protestas que interfirieran con el movimiento, se podría ingresar a la Zona simplemente cruzando una calle.

En 1904, se proclamó la Convención del Canal Istmo . En él, la República de Panamá otorgó a los Estados Unidos a perpetuidad el uso, ocupación y control de una zona de tierra y tierra bajo el agua para la construcción, mantenimiento, operación, saneamiento y protección del canal. De 1903 a 1979, el territorio estuvo controlado por Estados Unidos, que compró el terreno a los propietarios públicos y privados, construyó el canal y financió su construcción. La Zona del Canal fue abolida en 1979, como término de los Tratados Torrijos-Carter dos años antes; el canal en sí estuvo más tarde bajo el control conjunto de Estados Unidos y Panamá hasta que fue entregado por completo a Panamá en 1999. ^[2]

Historia

Artículo principal: Historia del Canal de Panamá

Mapa del área antes de la construcción del canal

Propuestas para un canal

Las propuestas para un canal a través del istmo de Panamá se remontan a 1529, poco después de la conquista española. Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón , lugarteniente del conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa , sugirió cuatro rutas posibles, una de las cuales sigue de cerca el canal actual. Saavedra creía que un canal así facilitaría a los barcos europeos llegar a Asia. Aunque el rey Carlos I estaba entusiasmado y ordenó que comenzaran los trabajos preliminares, sus funcionarios en Panamá pronto se dieron cuenta de que tal empresa estaba más allá de las capacidades de la tecnología del siglo XVI. Un funcionario le escribió a Charles: "Prometo a Su Majestad que no hay un príncipe en el mundo con el poder para lograr esto". ^[3]En cambio, los españoles construyeron una carretera a través del istmo. El camino llegó a ser crucial para la economía de España, ya que el tesoro obtenido a lo largo de la costa del Pacífico de América del Sur se descargó en la ciudad de Panamá y se transportó a través de la selva hasta el puerto atlántico de Nombre de Dios, cerca del actual Colón . ^[4] Aunque se hicieron propuestas adicionales para la construcción de canales a lo largo de los siglos XVI y XVII, no sirvieron para nada. ^[3]

A finales del siglo XVIII y principios del XIX se construyeron varios canales. El éxito del Canal Erie en los Estados Unidos y el colapso del Imperio español en América Latina llevaron a un aumento del interés estadounidense en la construcción de un canal interoceánico. A partir de 1826, los funcionarios estadounidenses iniciaron negociaciones con Gran Colombia (actual Colombia , Venezuela , Ecuador y Panamá ), con la esperanza de obtener una concesión para la construcción de un canal. Celoso de su recién obtenida independencia y temeroso de ser dominados por una presencia estadounidense, el presidente Simón Bolívary los funcionarios de Nueva Granada rechazaron las ofertas estadounidenses. La nueva nación era políticamente inestable y Panamá se rebeló varias veces durante el siglo XIX. ^{[ cita requerida ]}

En 1836, el estadista estadounidense Charles Biddle llegó a un acuerdo con el gobierno de Nueva Granada para reemplazar la antigua carretera por una mejorada o un ferrocarril, que se extiende desde la ciudad de Panamá en la costa del Pacífico hasta el río Chagres , donde un servicio de vapor permitiría a los pasajeros y la carga viajar. Continuamos hacia Colón. Su acuerdo fue repudiado por la administración de Jackson , que quería derechos para construir un canal. En 1841, con Panamá en rebelión nuevamente, los intereses británicos aseguraron un derecho de paso sobre el istmo del régimen insurgente y ocuparon puertos nicaragüenses que podrían haber servido como el término atlántico de un canal. ^{[5] [6]} En 1846, el nuevo enviado de Estados Unidos a Bogotá , Benjamin Bidlack, se sorprendió cuando, poco después de su llegada, los neogranadinos propusieron que Estados Unidos fuera el garante de la neutralidad del istmo. El resultante Tratado Mallarino-Bidlack permitió a Estados Unidos intervenir militarmente para asegurar que la carretera interoceánica (y cuando se construyó, también el Ferrocarril de Panamá ) no se interrumpiera. Nueva Granada esperaba que otras naciones firmaran tratados similares, pero el único con Estados Unidos, que fue ratificado por el Senado estadounidense en junio de 1848 después de una considerable presión de Nueva Granada, fue el único. ^[7]

El tratado llevó al gobierno de Estados Unidos a contratar el servicio de un barco de vapor a Panamá desde los puertos de ambas costas. Cuando comenzó la fiebre del oro de California en 1848, el tráfico a través de Panamá aumentó considerablemente y Nueva Granada acordó permitir que los intereses estadounidenses construyeran el Ferrocarril de Panamá . Este primer "ferrocarril transcontinental" se inauguró en 1850. ^[8] Hubo disturbios en la ciudad de Panamá en 1856; varios estadounidenses murieron. Buques de guerra estadounidenses desembarcaron marines, quien ocupó la estación de ferrocarril y evitó que el servicio ferroviario fuera interrumpido por los disturbios. Estados Unidos exigió una compensación a Nueva Granada, incluida una zona de 20 millas (32 km) de ancho, que sería gobernada por funcionarios estadounidenses y en la que Estados Unidos podría construir cualquier "ferrocarril o pasaje" que quisiera. La demanda fue abandonada ante la resistencia de los funcionarios de Nueva Granada, que acusaron a Estados Unidos de buscar una colonia. ^[9]

Durante el resto del siglo XIX, Estados Unidos desembarcó tropas varias veces para preservar la conexión ferroviaria. Al mismo tiempo, persiguió un tratado del canal con Colombia (como se renombró Nueva Granada). Un tratado, firmado en 1868, fue rechazado por el Senado colombiano , que esperaba mejores condiciones de la administración entrante de Grant . Bajo este tratado, el canal habría estado en el medio de una zona de 20 millas, bajo la administración estadounidense pero soberanía colombiana, y el canal volvería a Colombia en 99 años. La administración de Grant hizo poco para lograr un tratado y, en 1878, la concesión para construir el canal recayó en una empresa francesa. Los esfuerzos franceses finalmente fracasaron, pero como Panamá aparentemente no estaba disponible, Estados Unidos consideró posibles sitios para el canal.en México y Nicaragua . ^[10]

Mapa de la Zona del Canal de Panamá del canal terminado, 1911

La Guerra Hispanoamericana de 1898 le dio nueva vida al debate sobre el canal. Durante la guerra, los buques de guerra estadounidenses en el Atlántico que buscaban llegar a las zonas de batalla en el Pacífico se vieron obligados a rodear el Cabo de Hornos . Expertos navales influyentes, como el capitán Alfred Thayer Mahan , instaron a la construcción de un canal centroamericano. En 1902, con los esfuerzos franceses moribundos, el presidente estadounidense Theodore Roosevelt respaldó la ruta de Panamá y el Congreso aprobó una ley que lo autorizaba a comprar los activos franceses ^[11] con la condición de que se llegara a un acuerdo con Colombia. ^[12]En marzo de 1902, Colombia estableció sus términos para tal tratado: Colombia sería soberana sobre el canal, que sería vigilado por colombianos pagados por Estados Unidos. La nación anfitriona recibiría un porcentaje mayor de los peajes que el previsto en los borradores de tratados anteriores. Los funcionarios estadounidenses rechazaron rápidamente los términos preliminares. Roosevelt tenía prisa por conseguir el tratado; los colombianos, a quienes la propiedad francesa se revertiría en 1904, no lo eran. Las negociaciones se prolongaron hasta 1903, tiempo durante el cual hubo disturbios en la ciudad de Panamá y Colón; Estados Unidos envió marines para vigilar los trenes. Sin embargo, a principios de 1903, Estados Unidos y Colombia firmaron un tratado que, a pesar de las objeciones anteriores de Colombia, le dio a Estados Unidos una zona de 6 millas (9,7 km) de ancho en la que podría desplegar tropas con el consentimiento de Colombia.El 12 de agosto de 1903, el Senado colombiano rechazó el tratado 24-0.^[13]

Roosevelt estaba enojado por las acciones de los colombianos, especialmente cuando el Senado colombiano hizo una contraoferta que fue más ventajosa financieramente para Colombia. Un francés que había trabajado en los esfuerzos del canal de su nación, Philippe Bunau-Varilla , representó a los insurgentes panameños; se reunió con Roosevelt y con el secretario de Estado John Hay , quienes se encargaron de que sus directores recibieran apoyo encubierto. Cuando llegó la revolución en noviembre de 1903, Estados Unidos intervino para proteger a los rebeldes, quienes lograron apoderarse de la provincia, declarándola independiente como República de Panamá . Bunau-Varilla fue inicialmente el representante de Panamá en los Estados Unidos, aunque estaba a punto de ser desplazado por los panameños reales, y negoció apresuradamente un tratado., dando a los Estados Unidos una zona de 20 millas (32 km) de ancho y plena autoridad para aprobar leyes que regulen esa zona. La Zona del Canal de Panamá (Zona del Canal o Zona) excluyó a la Ciudad de Panamá y Colón, pero incluyó cuatro islas frente a la costa, y permitió a los Estados Unidos agregar a la zona las tierras adicionales necesarias para llevar a cabo las operaciones del canal. Los panameños estaban dispuestos a repudiar el tratado, pero Bunau-Varilla le dijo al nuevo gobierno que si Panamá no estaba de acuerdo, Estados Unidos retiraría su protección y haría los mejores términos que pudiera con Colombia. Los panameños estuvieron de acuerdo, incluso agregando una disposición a la nueva constitución , a pedido de Estados Unidos, permitiendo que la nación en general interviniera para preservar el orden público. ^[14]

Gráficos del progreso de la excavación y contribución a la excavación del canal.

Construcción (1903-1914)

The treaty was approved by the provisional Panamanian government on December 2, 1903, and by the US Senate on February 23, 1904. Under the treaty, Panama received US$10 million, much of which the United States required to be invested in that country, plus annual payments of US$250,000; with those payments made, as well as for the purchase of the French company assets, the Canal Zone was formally turned over by Panama on May 4, 1904, when American officials reopened the Panama City offices of the canal company and raised the American flag.^[15] This marked the beginning point for U.S. excavation and construction which concluded in August 1914 with the opening of the canal to commercial traffic.

Governance

Map of the Panama Canal Zone

By order of President Theodore Roosevelt under the Panama Canal Acts of 1902 and 1904 the secretary of War was made supervisor of canal construction and the second Isthmian Canal Commission made the governing body for the Canal Zone.^[16] Under the Panama Canal Act of May 24, 1912, President Woodrow Wilson issued Executive Order 1885, January 27, 1914, effective April 1, 1914, abolishing the previous governance placing it under the direction of the secretary of War with the entity designated as The Panama Canal.^[16][17] The governor of the Panama Canal was charged with "completion, maintenance, operation, government and sanitation of the Panama Canal and its adjuncts and the government of the Canal Zone" in the Executive Order.^[17] A number of departments were specified in the order with others to be established as needed by the governor of the Panama Canal with approval of the president and under the supervision of the secretary of War.^[17] Defense of the canal was the responsibility of the secretary of War who retained control of troops with provisions for presidential appointment of an Army officer in wartime who would have "exclusive authority over the operation of the Panama Canal and the Government of the Canal Zone."^[17] The executive order noted in closing "that the supervision of the operations of the Panama Canal under the permanent organization should be under the Secretary of War" thus establishing the essentially military arrangement and atmosphere for the canal and Canal Zone.^[17]

On September 5, 1939 with the outbreak of war in Europe Executive Order 8232 placed governance of the Canal and "all its adjuncts and appurtenances, including the government of the Canal Zone" under the exclusive control of the Commanding General, Panama Canal Department for the duration.^[18][19]

Effective July 1, 1951, under an act of Congress dated September 26, 1950 (64 Stat. 1038), governance of the Canal Zone was through the Canal Zone Government with the canal operated by the Panama Canal Company until 1979 when the Panama Canal Commission took over its governance.^[20][21] The entire structure was under the control of the United States government with the secretary of the Army appointing the Panama Canal Company board of directors and the Canal Zone Government was entirely financed by the company.^[22] The office of the governor of the Panama Canal Zone was not usually a stepping stone to higher political office but a position given to US Army active duty general officers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.^[23] The governor was also president of the Panama Canal Company. The Canal Zone had its own police force (the Canal Zone Police), courts, and judges (the United States District Court for the Canal Zone). Despite being an unincorporated territory, the Canal Zone was never granted a congressional delegate.

Everyone worked for the company or the government in one form or another. Residents did not own their homes; instead, they rented houses assigned primarily based on seniority in the zone. When an employee moved away, the house would be listed and employees could apply for it. The utility companies were also managed by the company. There were no independent stores; goods were brought in and sold at stores run by the company, such as a commissary, housewares, and so forth.

In 1952 the Panama Canal Company was required to go on a break-even basis in an announcement made in the form of the president's budget submission to the United States Congress.^[24] Though company officials had been involved in previewing the requirement, there was no disclosure in advance, even though the Bureau of the Budget directed that the new régime become effective on March 1.^[24] The company organization was realigned into three main divisions; Canal Activity and Commercial Activity with the Service Activity providing services to both operating activities at rates sufficient to recover costs.^[25] Rate adjustments in housing and other employee services would be required and a form of valuation, compared to a property tax, would be used to determine each division's contribution to the Canal Zone Government.^[26]

Tensions and the end of the Canal Zone

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In 1903, the United States, having failed to obtain from Colombia the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, which was part of that country, sent warships in support of Panamanian independence from Colombia. This being achieved, the new nation of Panama ceded to the Americans the rights they wanted in the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty. Over time, though, the existence of the Canal Zone, a political exclave of the United States that cut Panama geographically in half and had its own courts, police, and civil government, became a cause of conflict between the two countries. Major rioting and clashes occurred on May 21, 1958 and on November 3, 1959. Demonstrations occurred at the opening of the Thatcher Ferry Bridge, now known as the Bridge of the Americas, in 1962 and serious rioting occurred in January 1964. This led to the United States easing its controls in the Zone. For example, Panamanian flags were allowed to be flown alongside American ones. After extensive negotiations, the Canal Zone ceased to exist on October 1, 1979, in compliance with provisions of the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

US fleet off the coast of Panama, March 1, 1923

Lifestyle of residents

"Gold" roll and "silver" roll

During its construction and into the 1940s, the labor force in the Canal Zone (which was almost entirely publicly employed) was divided into a "gold" roll (short for payroll) classification, and a "silver" roll classification. The origins of this system are unclear, but it was the practice on the 19th-century Panama Railroad to pay Americans in US gold and local workers in silver coin.^[27] Although some Canal Zone officials compared the gold roll to military officers and the silver roll to enlisted men, the characteristic that determined on which roll an employee was placed was race. With very few exceptions, American and Northern European whites were placed on the gold roll, and blacks and southern European whites on the silver roll. American blacks were generally not hired; black employees were from the Caribbean, often from Barbados and Jamaica. American whites seeking work as laborers, which were almost entirely silver roll positions, were discouraged from applying.^[28] In the early days of the system, bosses could promote exceptional workers from silver to gold, but this practice soon ceased as race came to be the determining factor.^[29] As a result of the initial policy, there were several hundred skilled blacks and Southern Europeans on the gold roll.^[30] In November 1906, Chief Engineer John Stevens ordered that most blacks on the gold roll be placed on the silver roll instead (a few remained in such roles as teachers and postmasters); the following month, the Canal Commission reported that the 3,700 gold roll employees were "almost all white Americans" and the 13,000 silver roll workers were "mostly aliens".^[28] On February 8, 1908, President Roosevelt ordered that no further non-Americans be placed on the gold roll. After Panamanians objected, the gold roll was reopened to them in December 1908; however, efforts to remove blacks and non-Americans from the gold roll continued.^[31]

Until 1918, when all employees began to be paid in US dollars, gold roll employees were paid in gold, in American currency, while their silver roll counterparts were paid in silver coin, initially Colombian pesos. Through the years of canal construction, silver roll workers were paid with coins from various nations; in several years, coin was imported from the United States because of local shortages. Even after 1918, both the designations and the disparity in privileges lingered.^[30]

"Diasporization" in the Panama Canal Zone

Until the end of World War II in 1945, the Panama Canal Zone operated under a Jim Crow society, where the category of "gold" represented white, U.S. workers and the title "silver" represented the non-white, non-U.S. workers on the Zone. There were even separate entrances for each group at the Post Office. After the strike of 1920, the Afro diasporic workers were banned from unionizing by the U.S. Canal officials. As a result, the Panama Canal West Indian Employees Association (PCWIEA) was created in 1924 to fill this vacuum of representation.^[32] The PCWIEA did not garner much support on the Canal Zone because of its restrictive membership policies and the haunting of the 1920 strike and its damaging consequences. However, in 1946, the PCWIEA summoned the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) for representation and the establishment of a local union. In July of that year, the West Indian and Panamanian workers received a charter for Local 713 of the United Public Workers of America (UPWA)-CIO.^[33][34] Together, with the assistance of U.S. representatives for the Local, these Afro-diasporic workers came together to secure material benefits in their livelihoods. They organized together in order to pose a serious threat to the Jim Crow system which resulted, however, only in minimal gains. American segregationist policies persisted as it related to housing and schooling.^[35] In the end, ties to communism destroyed the UPWA and as a result Local 713 collapsed.^[36] Nevertheless, Frank Gurridy describes this as diasporization, "diaspora in action, or the ways Afro-diasporic linkages were made in practice".^[37] In the case of the Panama Canal Zone, these linkages were made not only by the West Indian and Panamanian communities, but also between the Afro descended workers on the Zone and African Americans, on the mainland of the U.S., through the transnational struggle to dismantle the system of Jim Crow.

Community

Housing and goods

Canal Zone housing was constructed in the early days of construction, as part of Stevens' plans. Housing constructed for couples and families consisted of structures containing four two-story apartments. The units had corrugated-iron roofs, and were uniformly painted gray with white trim. Constructed of pine clapboard, they had long windows and high ceilings, allowing for air movement. Better-paid employees were entitled to more square feet of housing, the unit in which allowances were expressed. Initially, employees received one square foot per dollar of monthly salary. Stevens from the first encouraged gold roll employees to send for their wives and children; to encourage them to do so, wives were granted a housing allowance equal to their husband's, even if they were not employees. Bachelors mostly resided in hotel-like structures. The structures all had screened verandas and up-to-date plumbing. The government furnished power, water, coal for cooking, ice for iceboxes, lawn care, groundskeeping, garbage disposal, and, for bachelors only, maid service.^[38]

In the first days of the Canal Zone, the ICC provided no food, and workers had to fend for themselves, obtaining poor-quality food at inflated prices from Panamanian merchants. When Stevens arrived in 1905, he ordered food to be provided at cost, leading to the establishment of the Canal Zone Commissary. The functions of the Commissary quickly grew, generally against the will of the Panamanian government, which saw more and more goods and services provided in the Zone rather than in Panama. Merchants could not compete with the commissary's prices or quality; for example, it boasted that the meat it sold had been refrigerated every moment from the Chicago slaughterhouse to the moment it was passed to the consumer. By 1913, it consisted of 22 general stores, 7 cigar stores, 22 hostels, 2 hotels, and a mail-order division. It served high-quality meals at small expense to workers and more expensive meals to upper-echelon canal employees and others able to afford it.^[39]

The commissary was a source of friction between the Canal Zone and Panama for several other reasons. The commissary dominated sales of supplies to passing ships.^[40] The commissary was off limits to individuals who were not in the U.S. Military, employees of the Panama Canal Company, the Canal Zone Government and/or their dependents. This restriction was requested by Panama for the benefit of Panamanian storekeepers, who feared the loss of trade. Panama had laws restricting imports from the Canal Zone. Goods from the commissary would sometimes show up in Panamanian stores and in vendor displays, where Comisariato goods were deemed of high quality.^[41] Additionally, there were separate commissaries on the U.S. military installations that were available only to the U.S. Military personnel and their dependents. Employees and dependents of the Panama Canal Company/Government were not allowed to utilize the commissaries, exchanges, package stores, theaters, gas stations, and other facilities on the U.S. Military installations.

Citizenship

Canal Zone Courthouse site of the Canal Zone District Court which existed from 1914 until 1982.

Although the Panama Canal Zone was legal territory of the United States^[42] until the implementation of the Torrijos–Carter Treaties in 1979, questions arose almost from its inception as to whether it was considered part of the United States for constitutional purposes, or, in the phrase of the day, whether the Constitution followed the flag. In 1901 the US Supreme Court had ruled in Downes v. Bidwell that unincorporated territories are not the United States.^[43] On July 28, 1904, Controller of the Treasury Robert Tracewell stated, "While the general spirit and purpose of the Constitution is applicable to the zone, that domain is not a part of the United States within the full meaning of the Constitution and laws of the country."^[44] Accordingly, the Supreme Court held in 1905 in Rasmussen v. United States that the full Constitution only applies for incorporated territories of the United States.^[45]

The treaty with Panama made no mention of the nationality status of the native inhabitants of the Zone.^[46] Pursuant to the principles of international law, they became non-citizen U.S. nationals unless they elected to retain their previous nationality. Children of non-citizen U.S. nationals generally acquired the status of their parents. However, for most nationality purposes, the Canal Zone was considered to be foreign territory and the status persons acquired at birth was governed by the Naturalization Act of 1795, which granted them statutory US citizenship at birth but only if their fathers were, at the time of the child's birth, U.S. citizens who had previously resided in the United States. In 1934 the law was amended to allow for citizenship to be acquired at birth through either parent if the parent was a U.S. citizen who had previously resided in the United States. In 1937 the law was further amended to provide for US citizenship to persons born in the Canal Zone (since 1904) to a U.S. citizen parent without that parent needing to have been previously resident in the United States.^[42] The law is now codified under title 8, section 1403.^[47] It not only grants statutory and declaratory born citizenship to those born in the Canal Zone after February 26, 1904, of at least one US citizen parent, but also does so retroactively for all children born of at least one US citizen in the Canal Zone before the law's enactment.^[48] This rule was later rendered moot when the rules were changed to state that (almost all) children born to U.S. citizens anywhere in the world were considered U.S citizens.^[49]

In 2008, during a minor controversy over whether John McCain, born in the Zone in 1936, was legally eligible for the presidency, the US Senate passed a non-binding resolution that McCain was a "natural-born Citizen" of the United States.^[50]

Notable people

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Notable people born in the Panama Canal Zone include:

• Leo Barker
• Earl Bell^[51]
• Frederick C. Blesse
• Rod Carew
• Kenneth Clark
• The Del Rubio Triplets
• Bill Dunn
• John Hayes
• George Headley, West Indian cricketer
• Jeff Hennessy
• Tom Hughes
• Eric Jackson
• Thomas H. Jordan
• Shoshana Johnson
• Stephen J. Kopp
• John McCain, the Republican 2008 presidential nominee and former US Senator from Arizona.
• Edward A. Murphy Jr., for whom Murphy's law is named
• John S. Palmore
• Richard Prince
• Thomas Sancton Sr.
• Klea Scott, Canadian actress
• Charles S. Spencer
• Sage Steele

Other people associated with the zone include:

• John G. Claybourn, the civil engineer who designed Gamboa, Panama.
• Charles Patrick Garcia, who graduated from Balboa High School.
• Ernest Hallen, the official photographer of the Panama Canal.
• Karen Hughes, the daughter of Harold Parfitt, the last U.S. Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.
• Gustavo A. Mellander, noted historian and expert on Panamanian history and seasoned university administrator. Graduate of Balboa High School and the Canal Zone Junior College.
• Louis E. Sola
• Stephen Stills, who graduated from Lincoln High School.
• Hillary Waugh, mystery writer who served in the Naval Air Force in the Panama Canal Zone

Culture

Frederick Wiseman made the film Canal Zone, which was released and aired on PBS in 1977.^[52]

Townships and military installations

See also: List of former United States military installations in Panama

The Canal Zone was generally divided into two sections, the Pacific side and the Atlantic side, separated by Gatun Lake.

A partial list of Canal Zone townships and military installations:^[53]

Pacific (Gulf Coast) side

Townships

Gorgas Hospital was built by the French as L'Hospital Notre Dame de Canal in 1882, renamed Ancon Hospital when the U.S. assumed control in 1904, rebuilt in 1915 and finally renamed in honor of William C. Gorgas in 1928. It is now home to Panama's Ministry of Health and the Instituto Oncologico Nacional.

• Ancón – built on the lower slopes of Ancon Hill, adjacent to Panama City. Also home to Gorgas Hospital.
• Balboa – the Zone's administrative capital, as well as location of the harbor and main Pacific-side high school.
• Balboa Heights
• Cardenas – as the Canal Zone was gradually handed over to Panamanian control, Cardenas was one of the last Zonian holdouts.
• Cocoli
• Corozal – site of the Pacific side cemetery
• Curundú – on a military base, but housed civilian military workers, also home to the Junior High School for the Pacific Side
• Curundu Heights
• Diablo
• Diablo Heights
• Gamboa – headquarters of dredging division, located on Gatun Lake. Many new arrivals to the Canal Zone were assigned here.
• La Boca – home of the Panama Canal College.
• Los Rios
• Paraíso
• Pedro Miguel
• Red Tank – abandoned and allowed to be overgrown around 1950.
• Rosseau – built as a naval hospital during World War II, housed FAA personnel until Cardenas was built. Torn down after about 20 years.

Military installations

Howard Air Force Base in 1970

• Forts Amador, Grant, and Kobbe were the Harbor Defenses of Balboa of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps from 1912 through 1948
• Fort Amador – on the coast, partly built on land extended into the sea using excavation materials from the canal construction
• Fort Grant - coastal artillery fort, on an island chain extending seaward from Fort Amador
• Fort Clayton – on the east side of the canal, it was the headquarters of the 193rd Infantry and the Southern Command Network (SCN), an American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) outlet.
• Corozal Army Post – close to, but separate from, the civilian township.
• Fort Kobbe - coastal artillery fort
• Rodman Naval Station (which includes the Marine Barracks)
• Albrook Air Force Base
• Howard Air Force Base
• Quarry Heights – headquarters of the United States Southern Command.

Atlantic (Caribbean) side

Townships

• Brazos Heights: privately owned housing (by United Brands and other, mostly shipping companies) where employees and owners of shipping agencies, lawyers, and the head of the YMCA lived.
• Coco Solo – main hospital and site of the only Atlantic-side high school, Cristobal High School.
• Cristóbal – main harbor and port.
• Gatún
• Margarita
• Mount Hope – site of the only Atlantic-side cemetery and drydock.
• Rainbow City, now Arco Iris

Abandoned theatre in Fort Davis (2011)

Military installations

• Forts Randolph, De Lesseps, and Sherman were the Harbor Defenses of Cristobal of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps from 1912 through 1948
• Fort Gulick – home to the School of the Americas.
• Galeta Island
• Fort Randolph – coastal artillery fort, located on Margarita Island in Manzanillo Bay.
• Fort De Lesseps – coastal artillery fort located in Colón.
• Fort Davis
• France Field
• Fort Sherman – built as a coastal artillery fort, later home to the Jungle Operations Training Center.

Panama Canal Treaty implementation

On 1 October 1979, the day the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 took effect, most of the land within the former Canal Zone was transferred to Panama. However, the treaty set aside many Canal Zone areas and facilities for transfer during the following 20 years. The treaty specifically categorized areas and facilities by name as "Military Areas of Coordination", "Defense Sites" and "Areas Subject to Separate Bilateral Agreement". These were to be transferred by the U.S. to Panama during certain time windows or simply by the end of the 243-month treaty period. On 1 October 1979, among the many such parcels so designated in the treaty, 35 emerged as enclaves (surrounded entirely by land solely under Panamanian jurisdiction).^[54] In later years as other areas were turned over to Panama, nine more enclaves emerged.

At least 13 other parcels each were enclosed partly by land under the absolute jurisdiction of Panama and partly by an "Area of Civil Coordination" (housing), which under the treaty was subject to elements of both U.S. and Panamanian public law. In addition, the 1977 treaty designated numerous areas and individual facilities as "Canal Operating Areas" for joint U.S.-Panama ongoing operations by a commission. On the effective date of the treaty, many of these, including Madden Dam, became newly surrounded by the territory of Panama. Just after noon local time on 31 December 1999, all former Canal Zone parcels of all types had come under the exclusive jurisdiction of Panama.^{[55][56][57][58][59][60]}

The 44 enclaves of U.S. territory that existed under the treaty are shown in the table below.

Enclave name	Type (military/civil)*	Function	Date created	Date transferred
PAD (former Panama Air Depot) Area Bldg. 1019 (Defense Mapping Agency)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1980
PAD Area Bldg. 1007 (Inter-American Geodetic Survey Headquarters)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1980
PAD Area Bldg. 1022 (warehouse)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1980
PAD Area Bldg. 490 (U.S. Army Meddac Warehouse)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1981
PAD Area Bldg. 1010 (U.S. Army Meddac Warehouse)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1981
PAD Area Bldg. 1008 (AAFES Warehouse)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1982
PAD Area Bldg. 1009 (AAFES Warehouse)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1982
Curundu Antenna Farm	military	communications	1 October 1979	1 October 1982
Curundu Heights	military	housing	1 October 1979	1 October 1982
France Field housing (15 units) on McEwen St.	military	housing	1 October 1979	1 October 1984
Navy Salvage Storage Area (Balboa)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	1 October 1984
Coco Solo Hospital	civil	medical	1 October 1979	31 May 1993
Ft. Amador Service Club Bldg. 107	military	base	1 October 1979	1 October 1996
Ft. Amador Bldg. 105 complex	military	base	1 October 1979	1 October 1996
FAA Long Range Radar, Semaphore Hill (coordinates 485035)	civil	aviation	1 October 1979	13 December 1996
Ancon Hill: Bldg. 140 (coordinates 595904)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	8 January 1998
Ancon Hill: Bldg. 159 – Quarry Heights Motor Pool	military	logistics	1 October 1979	8 January 1998
Ancon Hill FAA microwave link repeater station, Bldg. 148 (coordinates 594906)	civil	aviation	1 October 1979	16 January 1998
Ancon Hill FAA VHF/UHF communications station (coordinates 595902)	civil	aviation	1 October 1979	16 January 1998
Piña Range (part)	military	training	1 October 1979	30 June 1999
Balboa High School Shop Bldg.	civil	school	1 October 1979	31 August 1999
Balboa High School Activities Bldg.	civil	school	1 October 1979	31 August 1999
Cerro Gordo communications site	military	communications	1 October 1979	31 August 1999
Howard AFB/Ft. Kobbe Complex	military	base	1 October 1979	1 November 1999
Military Traffic Management Command, Bldg 1501, Balboa/Pier 18	military	logistics	1 October 1979	22 December 1999
Army Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Chambers (in current Parque Natural Metropolitano)	military	research	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Federal Aviation Administration Bldg. 611	civil	aviation	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
FAA radar station, Isla Perico	civil	aviation	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Stratcom Transmitter Station Bldg. 430 (in Corozal Antenna Field)	military	communications	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Stratcom Transmitter Station Bldg. 433 (in Corozal Antenna Field)	military	communications	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Stratcom Transmitter Station Bldg. 435 (in Corozal Antenna Field)	military	communications	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Army Transport Shipping Facility (Balboa)	military	logistics	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Navy Communications Electric Repair Facility (Balboa)	military	communications	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
U.S. Air Force Communications Group storage/training facility, Bldg 875	military	logistics	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Inter-American Air Force Academy Jet Engine Test Cell, Bldg. 1901	military	research	1 October 1979	31 December 1999
Bachelor Officers' Housing (larger parcel) – Curundu Heights	military	housing	2 October 1982	Nov–Dec 1992
Bachelor Officers' Housing (smaller parcel) – Curundu Heights	military	housing	2 October 1982	Nov–Dec 1992
Curundu Laundry facility	military	housing	2 October 1982	15 November 1999
Ft. Gulick Elementary School	civil	school	2 October 1984	1 September 1995
Ft. Gulick Ammunition Storage Facility	military	logistics	2 October 1984	1 September 1995
Cristobal Junior-Senior High School	civil	school	1990	1 September 1995
Chiva Chiva Antenna Farm (Foreign Broadcast Information Service)	military	communications	1993	6 January 1998
Curundu Middle School	civil	school	1 August 1997	15 September 1999
Piña Range (remainder)	military	training	30 June 1999	1 July 1999

* Enclaves are a subset of those areas that were categorized in the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty as "Military Area of Coordination", "Defense Site" and "Area Subject to Separate Bilateral Agreement". The map legends and color coding that are contained in the Panama Canal Treaty Annex provide visual corroborations of the treaty language.

Postage stamps

Two Canal Zone stamps showing precancels.

Main article: Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone issued its own postage stamps from 1904 until October 25, 1978.^[61] During the early years, United States postage stamps overprinted "Canal Zone" were used. After a few years, accredited Canal Zone stamps were issued. After a transition period during which Panama took over the administration of postal service, Canal Zone stamps became invalid.

The two-letter state abbreviation for mail sent to the Zone was CZ.

Amateur radio

Amateur radio licenses were issued by the United States Federal Communications Commission and carried the prefix KZ5, the initial 'K' indicating a station under American jurisdiction.^[62] The American Radio Relay League had a Canal Zone section, and the Canal Zone was considered an entity for purposes of the DX Century Club. Contacts with Canal Zone stations from before repatriation may still be counted for DXCC credit separate from Panama.^[63] The KZ5 amateur radio prefix has been issued to license operators since 1979 but today has no special meaning.

See also

• Martyrs' Day (Panama)
• Panama Railway
• Rail transport in Panama
• Transcontinental Railroad#Panama
• List of former United States military installations in Panama
• List of Governors of Panama Canal Zone
• Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone

References

1. Liptak, Adam (July 11, 2008). "A Hint of New Life to a McCain Birth Issue". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
2. "Panamanian Control", Panama Canal, infoplease.com, archived from the original on May 24, 2008, retrieved June 2, 2008
3. Maurer and Yu, pp. 15–18.
4. Major, p. 9.
5. Major, p. 11.
6. Maurer and Yu, pp. 33–34.
7. Maurer and Yu, pp. 35–36.
8. Major, p. 13.
9. Major, pp. 15–16.
10. Major, pp. 18–24.
11. Major, pp. 24–28.
12. Maurer and Yu, p. 76.
13. Maurer and Yu, pp. 78–82.
14. Maurer and Yu, pp. 82–86.
15. McCullough, pp. 397–399, 402.
16. NARA: 185.6 RECORDS OF THE SECOND ISTHMIAN CANAL COMMISSION 1904–16.
17. Wilson, Executive Order 1885.
18. Conn, Stetson; Engelman, Rose C.; Fairchild, Byron (1964). The Western Hemisphere—Guarding The United States And Its Outposts. United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army. p. 312. LCCN 62060067.
19. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 3—The President 1938—1943 Compilation. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service. 1968. p. 569.
20. NARA: RECORDS OF THE CANAL ZONE GOVERNMENT AND THE PANAMA CANAL COMPANY 1904–84.
21. Panama Canal Treaty.
22. Maurer & Yu 2011, p. 251.
23. Maurer & Yu 2011, p. 252.
24. The Panama Canal Review, February 1, 1952, p. 1.
25. The Panama Canal Review, February 1, 1952, pp. 1, 13.
26. The Panama Canal Review, February 1, 1952, p. 13.
27. Greene, p. 62.
28. Major, pp. 78–81.
29. Greene, p. 63.
30. Maurer and Yu, p. 111.
31. Maurer & Yu, pp. 111–112.
32. Kaysha Lisbeth Corinealdi, "Redefining Home: West Indian Panamanians and Transnational Politics of Race, Citizenship, and Diaspora, 1928–1970" (PhD diss., Yale University, 2011), 43.
33. Corinealdi, 2011, pp. 44–45
34. "Canal Zone Workers Rally to CIO: Plan Program," Chicago Defender, August 31, 1946.
35. Corinealdi, 2011, pp. 47–48
36. Michael Conniff, Black Labor on a White Island: Panama, 1904–1981 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985), 113.
37. Frank Gurridy, Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 5.
38. McCullough, pp. 478–79.
39. Maurer and Wu, pp. 192–94.
40. Maurer and Wu, pp. 194–96.
41. Knapp and Knapp, pp. 183–84.
42. "7 FAM 1120: Acquisition of US nationality in US territories and possessions". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
43. United States Supreme Court, Downes v. Bidwell Archived September 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
44. "Not Part of United States" (PDF), The New York Times, July 29, 1904, retrieved June 2, 2008|
45. United States Supreme Court, [1] Archived November 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
46. "Once a Zonian: the Americans who called the Panama Canal home", Radio Netherlands Archives, March 7, 2004
47. 8 U.S.C. § 1403
48. Cf. 8 U.S.C. § 1403, paragraph (a): "whether before or after the effective date of this chapter".
49. FindLaw. "U.S. Citizenship Through Parents or by Birth". Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
50. Impomeni, Mark. Clinton, Obama Sponsor McCain Citizenship Bill. PoliticsDaily.com. May 2008. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
51. "Earl Holmes Bell (1955–)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
52. Eames, David (October 2, 1977). "Watching Wiseman Watch". New York Times. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
53. Johnson, Suzanne P. (19). American legacy in Panama: a brief history of the Department of Defense installations and properties. United States Army South. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
54. Treaty concerning the permanent neutrality and operation of the Panama Canal, with annexes and protocol. Signed at Washington September 7, 1977. Entered into force October 1, 1979, subject to amendments, conditions, reservations, and understandings. 33 UST 1; TIAS 10029 Archived April 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine; 1161 UNTS 177.
55. United States. Central Intelligence Agency. (1987). "Land and waters of the Panama Canal Treaty (map)". Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
56. "Carte IV. Aires de terre et d'eau mises à disposition du fonctionnement et de la défense du canal de Panama par le traité relatif au canal de Panama du 7 septembre 1977". Dirección ejecutiva para los asuntos del tratado (DEPAT). Ciudad de Panama. 1981. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
57. Panama Canal Treaty: Implementation of Article IV (TIAS 10032). United States Treaties and Other International Agreements. 33. United States Department of State. 1987. pp. 307–432. Archived from the original on May 21, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
58. Ormsbee, William H. "PANAMA CANAL TREATY TRANSITION (OCTOBER 1979 – DECEMBER 1999)". Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
59. Ormsbee, William H. "PANAMA CANAL TREATY TRANSITION – MILITARY. SUMMARY OF MILITARY PROPERTY TRANSFERS AND MILITARY FORCES DRAWDOWN". Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
60. "Canal Zone Map Section. Curundu 1". Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
61. Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986, p. 166. ISBN 0356108627
62. Company, Panama Canal (1963). The Panama Canal review. Panama Canal Co. p. 103. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
63. "ARRL DXCC LIST – DELETED ENTITIES" (PDF). American Radio Relay League. May 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.

Further reading and viewing

• "More American than America". Time. January 24, 1964.
• "PANAMA: No More Tomorrows". Time. October 15, 1979.
• Dimock, Marshall E. (1934) Government-operated enterprise in the Panama Canal Zone (University of Chicago Press) online.
• Donoghue, Michael E. (2014). Borderland on the Isthmus: Race, Culture, and the Struggle for the Canal Zone. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
• Frenkel, Stephen. (2002) "Geographical representations of the 'Other': the landscape of the Panama Canal Zone." Journal of Historical Geography 28.1 (2002): 85-99, covers 1910-1940.
• Greene, Julie (2009). The Canal Builders: Making America's Empire at the Panama Canal. New York: The Penguin Press.
• Greene, Julie. (2004) "Spaniards on the Silver roll: Labor troubles and Liminality in the Panama Canal Zone, 1904–1914." International Labor and Working-Class History 66 (2004): 78-98.
• Harding, Robert C. (2001). Military Foundations of Panamanian Politics. Transaction Publishers.
• Harding, Robert C. (2006). The History of Panama. Greenwood Publishing.
• Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Panama. "Panama Canal Treaty". Retrieved January 17, 2014.
• Knapp, Herbert and Knapp, Mary (1984). Red, White and Blue Paradise: The American Canal Zone in Panama. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-176135-3.
• Major, John (1993). Prize Possession: The United States and the Panama Canal, 1903–1979. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52126-0.
• Maurer, Noel; Yu, Carlos (2011). The Big Ditch: How America Took, Built, Ran, and Ultimately Gave Away the Panama Canal. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14738-3. LCCN 2010029058. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
• McCullough, David (1977). The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-24409-5.
• NARA. "185.6 RECORDS OF THE SECOND ISTHMIAN CANAL COMMISSION 1904–16—History". National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
• NARA. "185.8 RECORDS OF THE CANAL ZONE GOVERNMENT AND THE PANAMA CANAL COMPANY 1904–84—History". National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
• "Canal Company to go on Break Even Basis". The Panama Canal Review. February 1, 1952. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
• Wiseman, Frederick (1977). Canal Zone (motion picture). Zipporah Films.
• Woodrow Wilson (January 27, 1914). "Executive Order 1885 - To Establish a Permanent Organization for the Operation and Government of the Panama Canal". President of the United States. Retrieved January 18, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panama Canal Zone.

• Official Handbook of the Panama Canal—1915
• Governor Parfitt's Address at Flag-lowering Ceremonies September 30, 1979
• Maps of the Canal Zone
• Live Panama Canal webcams
• Air Defense of the Panama Canal 1958–1970
• Panama & the Canal Digital Collection
• Panama Canal Centennial Online Exhibit
• Medicine in the Panama Canal Zone: The Samuel Taylor Darling Memorial Library Archives