Hay-Pauncefote, << HAY PAWNS fut, >> Treaty enabled the United States to build the Panama Canal. It was signed by the United States and Britain in 1901. The treaty gave the United States the sole right to build or supervise the construction of a canal across the Central American isthmus, as well as the right to manage it. All nations were to pay fair and equal traffic charges and enjoy equal rights during peacetime. In wartime, the U.S. could close the canal to any nation. Britain admitted that the United States also had the right to fortify and defend the canal. The treaty was named for its negotiators–U.S. Secretary of State John Milton Hay and British ambassador to the United States Sir Julian Pauncefote. See also Panama Canal ; Clayton-Bulwer Treaty .
