USPR Test 1

Questions 1 to 80, for the test on September 12

1) Roots of the US military presence in Panama

At the beginning of the US Civil War, to investigate local diseases

2) Two events driving early US intervention in Panama

The California Gold Rush, and the Trans Isthmian Railroad

3) Thousand Days' War

Colombia's civil conflict (approximately 1899–1902) that shaped Panama's political context.

4) Date of Panama's independence from Spain

Panama separated from Spanish rule in November 28, 1821 and joined Gran Colombia.

5) Attempts to separate from Gran Colombia

3 times in the years 1830, 1831, and 1840.

6) Why Panama wanted to separate from Gran Colombia

Panama felt ignored by Colombia, and there was no connection between the two countries.

7) White Panamanians' economic domination (1900)

They were the only ones who had external relations, they controlled the supplying of the railroads, and they controlled all the real estate.

8) Biggest pre-railroad expenditure in Panama

The Colombian Military

9) Bidlack Treaty

1846 treaty between the United States and Gran Colombia recognizing U.S. transit interests on the Isthmus while protecting Colombian sovereignty

10) Date of the Bidlack Treaty signing

December 12, 1846.

11) Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

1850 treaty between the United States and Britain guaranteeing cooperation between the two countries in a future Canal.

12) Foreigners trekking through Panama in 1849

Due to the massive migration brought by the California Gold Rush

13) Panama Railroad builders

New York investors from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company PMSC

14) First yellow fever epidemics in Panama

Two major outbreaks occurred in 1853 and 1855 during the railroad era.

15) Mass Chinese worker suicides, when and why

In 1854, due to poor working conditions and diseases

16) Estimated death toll of Panama Railroad construction

Approximately 6,000 workers died during its construction.

17) Advantages of the Panama Railroad

Faster cross-isthmus travel, boosted commerce, and easier movement of people and cargo.

18) Value of Gold that crossed Panama from California in 1855

$29 million dollars of 1855

19) Causes of the 1850s economic depression in Panama

Once the railroad was completed, the railroad workers became unemployed, and the previous transit road and its secondary places went out of business

20) William Walker Band and Panama

It was a mercenary group who had a “slave state” in Nicaragua. They would kidnap black Panamanians to take over there.

61) What were the two sides of the Colombian Civil War of 1899-1902?

Liberals and Conservatives

62) Where did the liberal party find support in Panama during the conflict?

In the rural areas - en el interior

63) How did the people of Panama see the Colombian government during the Civil War?

They saw them as arrogant and neglectful.

64) Did any major battles take place in Panama during the Colombian civil war?

Yes 3 (in 1900, 1901, and 1902)

65) What treaty gave the US the right to use force during the Colombian civil war?

The Bidlack Treaty.

66) What kept the Liberal army from reaching the city of Panama and Colon when they attempted again to take over in September 1901?

Colombia requested US assistance, so the marines blocked entrance to the city

67) What are the names of the commanders of both sides (US and Liberal) during the Liberal rebellion in Panama in September 1901?

US: Casey Silas
Liberal: Benjamin Herrera

68) Why was the Liberal victory stopped in November 1901?

The US sent gunboat USS Iowa to protect the operations of the railroad, and they threatened an invasion with marines.

69) What was the name of the captain of the US IOWA that participated in the conflict of the.

Captain Thomas Perry

70) What was the result of the US intervention during the Colon liberal occupation of 1901?

The liberals did not win, so they were forced to sign a peace treaty.

71) What did Admiral Casey say to Benjamin Herrera regarding about the use of the railroad?

No other troops but the US can use it.

72) Did Admiral Casey’s statements to General Herrera go in accordance to the Bidlack treaty?

No, his statements go beyond the Bidlack treaty.

73) When and where was the peace treaty between liberals and conservatives finally signed?

November 19, 1902, on the USS Wisconsin

How much of Panama’s cattle was destroyed during the Colombian Civil War?

60% of all Panamanian cattle was destroyed (it got lit)

75) According to historian Humberto Ricord, what were the conditions after the Colombian Civil War like in Panama?

It was the disappearance of most of the cattle extermination of agriculture, and depopulation.

76a) When was Victoriano Lorenzo born?

He was born sometime around the 1870s

76b) Where and what was Victoriano Lorenzo’s ethnic heritage?

He was a cholo from Coclé, mainly indigenous blood with drops of African and European, but with a fully Hispanic cultural background.

77) What was Victoriano Lorenzos involvement in the 1000 day war?

He was an elected official in Penonomé, and he was part of the Liberal rebellion.

78) How did Victoriano Lorenzo and his troops react to Benjamin Herrera’s peace treaty with conservatives?

He refused to give up and kept fighting.

79) How did Benjamin Herrera react to Victoriano Loreno’s refusal to surrender?

He ordered for his arrest and lured him into an ambush.

80) How did Victoriano Lorenzo die? And where is he buried?

He died from being executed by a firing squad. He was buried in cementerio Amador.

41) What happened to Prestan after the Colon fire?

The rebellion was defeated, so he fled to Cartagena.

42) What was the only dock to escape unharmed from the Prestan rebellion?

The PMSC

43) What did US Navy secretary William C. Whitney do in response to the Prestan rebellion?

He ordered 3 warships, a PMSC steamer, and 600 marines to Colón, in order to comply with their obligations to the Bidlack Treaty

44) When did the Colombian government request US intervention due to the Prestan rebellion?

3 days after the US marines arrived, to save face.

45) What became of Pedro Prestán after the Rebellion and Colon fire?

The US Navy went to look for him in Cartagena. He was arrested and tried in military court, and he was hung.

46) What were the official charges pressed against Prestán and what did he claim he was actually being arrested for?

Officially, he was charged for the destruction of Colón. But he claimed the it was for kidnapping the customs agents.

47) Was the purpose of the US intervention during the Prestan rebellion to protect Colón?

An intercepted letter showed that the US only wanted to protect American interests, and to showcase their active navy overseas.

QUOTE 48) How was the Colombian army portrayed by the journalist from the New York Herald sent by Commander Bowman McCalla?

“A mongrel garrison penned down in a cuartel.”

QUOTE 49) How was the Panamanian civilian population portrayed by journalist from the New York Herald at the end of the 19th century?

“The vast majority of the inhabitants from the isthmus have never emerged from a half savage condition or else have relapsed into one.”

50) What did Irvin King of the New York tribune declare was the cheapest thing in Panama at the end of the 19th century?

Human life.

51) What fed the US interests in a Panama Canal after the Prestan rebellion?

The growth of US territory, commercial and military ambitions.

52) How did the US depressions of the 1870s and 1880s affect the relationship between the US and Panama?

The depression resulted in the US looking to sell goods to Asia, through Panama.

53) When did the French attempt to build a Canal in Panama?

Between 1879 and 1889.

54) How was the French Canal viewed by the US in light of the surplus of goods caused by their depression?

Apprehension

55) What was another NON military strategic aim of the Panama Canal for the US?

To populate the West Coast with white Europeans.

56) According to US Naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, how did Asian immigration to the west coast of the US threaten the political efficiency?

People with different ethnicities do not allow for a homogeneous process.

QUOTE 57) What did Ted Roosevelt say on the immigration of Asians to the US west coast?

“If there is any country that in its own interests, should keep out the yellow man and favor the white man, it is our own country. There is no greater calamity than to have this Pacific slope filled up with a Mongolian population.“

58) How did the shorts through Panama affect the US colonial interests at the end of the 19th century?

Access to Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, and to trade with China.

59) What did the Spanish-American war happen?

April 1898 to August 1898

60) Why did this conflict make the need for a NAVAL route through Panama evident?

It takes 70 days to go from California to the Atlantic

21a) Where was the watermelon riot?

Happened in 1856, outside a railroad station in Balboa.

21b) What happened in the watermelon riot?

An American named John Oliver refused to pay for a slice of watermelon. He pulled out a gun and attacked the shopkeeper, José Manuel Luna. Luna pulled out a knife to fight back and chased Oliver into the train station with the support of a local mob.

21c) What were the results of the watermelon riot?

16 people died: 2 Panamanians and 14 Americans

22) What caused US troops to land in Panama in September 1856?

There was a political party known as The Blacks, which threatened to take up arms and take over the country. The US Intervened to neutralize this.

23) What happened in Panama on September 27th, 1860?

Another attempt to take over the country from The Blacks, so the Colombian Government declared Martial Law.

24) How many times has the US military intervened in Panama?

20 times, before 1989.

25) Date and briefly explain 2 interventions of the US Military in Panama before 1989.

(Example: 2 medium ones)

1) November 1903, Colombian Military prevented from putting down independence.

2) 1908, 1910, and 1912; US Troops supervised elections outside the Canal Zone.

26) What motivated Abraham Lincoln to come up with the idea for creating a mining colony of emancipated slaves in Chiriqui in 1861?

Pressure after the Civil War to deal with slavery, especially with the vast number of ex-slaves.

27) What was the plan for the Chiriqui coal mining colony of 1861?

To take the freed slaves and deport them to Chiriqui, making them work in mines where they had to sell the coal at half price back to the US.

28) What was the Monroe Doctrine?

If any European country comes to colonize any part of the American Continent, the US would consider this an act of war.

29) What was president Hayes Rutherford’s warning to Europeans in 1880?

If any European country were to send their troops to a future canal in Panama, the US would consider this an act of war.

30) What were the 1880 incursions in Almirante Bay and Golfo dulce for, and what were their orders?

Americans going to explore Panama for Coal, without asking anyone for permission. They were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to interrupt their work.

31) QUOTE: What were Justo Arosemena’s declarations in Washington regarding the incursions in Almirante Bay and Golfo dulce?

“When governments attempt to acquire land in foreign countries, for construction or enterprises such as that under discussion, they normally begin by obtaining the consent of the sovereign country in which the land is located.”

32) What was the reaction of the US congress after Justo Arosemena’s declarations?

They ignored Justo Arosemena, and an additional $200k was spent to continue exploring for coal.

33) Why did the railroad transit cease in March 1885?

The Prestan rebellion

34) Who were the leaders of the armed Liberal faction in the Prestan rebellion in 1885?

Rafael Aizpuru and Pedro Prestán

35) Where were the weapons Prestan and his rebellion being shipped from? And by whom?

From the US, shipped by the PMSC.

36) Who was the Colombian Minister who openly complained to the US for supplying weapons to the rebels of the Prestan rebellion?

Ricardo Becerra

37) What did the US Secretary of State Thomas Bayard tell Becerra about the supply of US weapons for the Prestan rebellion?

Because Capitalism. Private companies could technically sell things to whoever they wanted.

38) What happened when the weapons arrived from the US for the Prestan rebellion?

The customs agent refused to give the weapons, so they were confiscated. Prestan then took six of them hostage.

39) What was the US marine’s role at the beginning in the Prestan rebellion?

They guarded the railroad, the US Consulate, and the PMSC.

40) What happened to the city of Colon on March 31st, 1885?

It got lit 🔥