INDUSTRIALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS 173reach, as shown on the previous page. This new
posture led McKinley—and the Senate—to endorse
a canal to advance commerce and expand the power
of the US Navy. In 1903, Panamanian nationalists
declared independence from Colombia, and then
immediately signed a treaty that gave the United
States extensive control of a proposed canal zone in
exchange for protection of their new country. This
agreement gave Americans the access they needed
to undertake such a major project, though it created
problems throughout the twentieth century.
After the route was determined, engineers set
to work. The Panama Railway removed mountains
of dirt that had contributed to earlier landslides.
Gargantuan quantities of steel, cement, and
machinery were shipped over vast distances to the
site. Thousands of laborers came to work under
difficult, dangerous, and segregated conditions. Ten
years later, the canal was complete. In August 1914,
just days after the outbreak of war in Europe, the
Panama Canal opened for business. The distance
from New York to San Francisco was reduced by 8,000
miles, and travel time was cut in half. It was the canal,
rather than the transcontinental railroad, that truly
integrated US coasts and ports. Americans celebrated
its completion with souvenirs such as this view made
by the mapmaker and illustrator C. P. Gray for the
Central Novelty toy company.