The Imperial Ambition: Seattle’s Role in a Nicaragua Canal Scheme
Military and political elites weigh the costs and grand strategies of controlling a trans-oceanic canal as the United States shifts toward a global power posture.
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A Washington correspondent writes: The Nicaragua treaty is a subject of intense discussion here at the Capitol. As the scheme is comprehended, it appears to be a radical construction of our government's theory regarding the occupation of territory on this continent. It involves the acquisition of land more than a thousand miles from our southern border, the maintenance of a large fleet, and the construction of powerful forts to hold territory against any foreign power. The scheme has all the technical attributes of an 'imperial republic,' with a southern boundary under the equator. I interviewed men of the army and navy. 'It will be a great thing for both the army and navy,' an officer of high rank told me. 'Two strong forts will be repaired at each end of the canal, and a garrison of no less than three thousand men will be needed to man them. We have notified all the world that we intend to control the inter-oceanic canal route, and regulate the passage of commerce and warships through it. To England, it is a notice that this Government will keep under its own control a line of communication ten thousand miles long.' I also spoke to a naval officer, who added: 'Nothing since the Virginians affair has caused such a lively sensation as this Nicaraguan treaty. If we ratify it, we must get ready to maintain our pretensions in the Caribbean Sea by something more than talk.'
“We have notified all the world that we intend to control the inter-oceanic canal route, and regulate the passage of commerce and warships through it.”
This 1885 report captures the early anxieties of American global expansionism, a pivot toward becoming an interventionist naval power. It reflects a precursor to the modern geopolitical obsession with maritime chokepoints and military infrastructure that continues to define US foreign policy, echoing today's debates over the strategic significance of global trade routes and the 'imperial' reach of a superpower.
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