Panama: Independence Movement

Panama's independence movement unfolded in two distinct stages nearly a century apart. The first came on November 28, 1821, when a bloodless uprising led by figures such as Jose de Fabrega ended Spanish colonial rule; rather than remain fully independent, Panama's leaders chose to join Simon Bolivar's newly formed Republic of Gran Colombia, seeking security in a larger union of former Spanish territories.

When Gran Colombia dissolved in the early 1830s, Panama remained a province of the Republic of Colombia, a relationship that lasted for the rest of the nineteenth century despite periodic unrest and several short-lived secession attempts. Economic grievances, limited political representation, and Colombia's rejection of a treaty permitting the United States to build an interoceanic canal all deepened Panamanian discontent by the turn of the twentieth century.

Matters came to a head in 1903, when Panamanian separatists, backed by United States naval support intended to secure canal construction rights, declared independence from Colombia on November 3. Colombia's inability to respond militarily allowed the new Republic of Panama to consolidate its sovereignty, and the country soon signed a treaty granting the United States control over the Panama Canal Zone.