Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, treaty between the United States and Britain, signed April 19, 1850, by John Clayton, U.S. secretary of state, and by the British diplomat Sir William Bulwer, later, Baron Dalling and Bulwer. The treaty concerned the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama and declared that neither nation was to “obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said ship-canal,” and that henceforth, parts of Central America not already occupied by European powers were not to be colonized. The treaty led to frequent disputes, and in 1881 Secretary of State James Blaine asserted that any canal built in Central America must be under the political control of the United States. After this date the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty became obsolete, and it was finally annulled by another Anglo-American agreement, the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901, which ensured the U.S. almost exclusive canal rights.