The United States secured rights to build the Panama Canal in 1903 by first aiding the Panamanian attempt to declare independence from which nation?

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To encourage progress in the American effort to build a canal through Panama, President Theodore Roosevelt used the U.S. navy to block Colombian seaways as Panama prepared to declare independence from them. When a treaty between the United States and Colombia granting rights to build the canal stalled in the Colombian Senate, Roosevelt chose to aid Panamanian rebels in their attempt at independence on the condition they would grant the United States rights to build the canal in return.

The United States Secured Rights to Build the Panama Canal