1

were not citizens of the United States until declared so by Congress, and that the United States had a right to place a tariff upon their goods coming to this country.

580. The Isthmian Canal. The war with Spain, and especially the long voyage of the "Oregon" (p. 453), made clear our need of a canal joining the Atlantic and Pacific. Both the great parties favored such a canal. A treaty

with Great Britain, who had some rights over such a canal, not only gave the United States the right to negotiate a treaty for the construction of a canal, but also to defend such a waterway. It was also agreed that the canal should always be open to the nations of the world.

Congress gave the President the power to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. If, however, he could not make favorable terms with Colombia for the control of this route, then he was authorized to build the canal by the Nicaragua route.

After the republic of Colombia had refused to accept a treaty permitting the United States to build the canal,

1 Amendments, Article XIV.

the state of Panama - the part of Colombia most concerned in the canal-rebelled, set up an independent government, and offered the United States a very favorable treaty. Secretary Hay accepted it and the Senate ratified the treaty (February, 1904).

By this agreement the United States obtained control over a strip of territory five miles wide along each side of the canal, and promised to pay Panama ten million dollars immediately, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually, beginning nine years after the work is finished. The French company which began work on the canal and abandoned it is to receive forty million dollars.

JOHN HAY

From a photograph by Eliot &Fry, London, taken when Mr. Hay was U. S. Ambassador to Great Britain

In 1913 work on the canal was finished. The opening was celebrated in 1915 by the Panama-Pacific Exposition of San Francisco. By means of this canal the United States is brought into closer touch with western South America,

and the sea route to Asia greatly shortened, enabling the United States to play more perfectly its great part among the nations of the world.

581. The Alaskan Boundary Dispute. As early as 1825 the boundary line between Alaska and Canada was agreed upon by a treaty between Russia and Great Britain. Not until several years after the United States purchased Alaska did any question about the boundary arise.

The discovery of gold in the Klondike and the Yukon regions made it necessary to locate definitely the line between Alaska and Canada. After a year or two of

On the line of settlement, the final determination has not been made (July, 1910). From a point on the Taku River south to Kates Needle, the line has been determined by a joint survey and will doubtless finally be agreed upon by the Commissioners discussion it was agreed to leave the question to be decided by a commission of six men. In 1903 this body, composed of three Americans, two Canadians, and an Englishman, met in London and, after several weeks of investigation and discussion, decided largely in favor

of the United States. By this decision the United States gained two islands at the mouth of the Portland Canal, two important towns, Skagway and Dyea, and a continuous strip of land along the coast from the Portland Canal northward.

582. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition. A great exposition was opened April 30, 1904, in St. Louis, Missouri. This exposition celebrated the Louisiana Purchase (298) and was therefore appropriately held in the

THE EDUCATIONAL BUILDING AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION

largest city in the Purchase. In size, number, and magnificence of its buildings, as well as in the amount of territory covered, it far exceeded even the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. In the number and interest of its exhibits it also exceeded all expositions thus far held.

583. The Presidential Campaign of 1904. The Republican candidates were Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. The Democratic candidates were Alton B. Parker of New York and Henry G. Davis of West Virginia. Two very significant results were the very great popular vote for

Roosevelt, nearly two million more than for Parker, and the large increase in the Socialist vote.

584. The Lewis and Clark Centennial, and Oriental Fair (1905). This event celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, sent out by President Thomas Jefferson (§ 301). In a larger sense it invited all the world to come and witness the wonderful growth of the Oregon country since Lewis and Clark's exploration, which so materially strengthened the rights of the United States to her first Pacific possession. Situated in Portland, Oregon, in full view of the Cascades and their snow-capped peaks, it excelled in beauty of location. The extensive display by Asiatic nations was a notable feature of the fair.

585. The Admission of Oklahoma (1907); The Jamestown Exposition. The Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory united to form one state called Oklahoma (541). This state had more than a million people when admitted, entering the Union with a larger population than any other of the states.

The Jamestown Exposition was held at Norfolk, Virginia (1907), in honor of the three-hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown (1607). Among the many noted things was a grand naval parade or display in which the nations of the world took part.

586. Home Rule in Our Insular Possessions. For all its non-contiguous possessions the United States is working steadily toward a continually increasing measure of self-government. Since the opening of the first legislative assembly in the Philippines (1907) a representative form of government exists in all our important outlying territories except Alaska.

587. The Movement for Universal Peace. For many years the Quakers had been holding peace meetings. Other persons finally joined with them, and now, every

1 Constitution, Article IV., Sec. 3.

? Constitution, Article IV., Sec. 3, ¶ 2.