Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, concluded (Apr. 19, 1850) at Washington, D.C., between the United States, represented by Secretary of State John M. Clayton, and Great Britain, represented by the British plenipotentiary Sir Henry Bulwer. American and British rivalries in Central America, particularly over a proposed isthmian canal, led to the treaty. Its most important article provided "that neither … will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said ship canal … that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same … or occupy, or fortify, or colonize or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast [in present-day Honduras and Nicaragua], or any part of Central America."

Although the treaty was soon ratified by the Senate, it was one of the most unpopular in U.S. history, viewed by some as a betrayal of the Monroe Doctrine Monroe Doctrine, principle of American foreign policy enunciated in President James Monroe's message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823. It initially called for an end to European intervention in the Americas, but it was later extended to justify U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. . Successive secretaries of state tried in vain to secure modifications that would enable the United States to build its own canal and exercise, under restrictions, political control over it, but it was not until 1901, with the Hay-Pauncefote Treaties Hay-Pauncefote Treaties (hā-pôns`f
..... Click the link for more information. , that this end was finally achieved.

Bibliography

See M. W. Williams, Anglo-American Isthmian Diplomacy, 1815–1915 (1916, repr. 1965).

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

(1850) Compromise agreement designed to harmonize contending British and U.S. interests in Central America. The treaty provided that the two countries jointly control and protect what was to become the Panama Canal. The Clayton-Bulwer treaty was superseded in 1901 by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, under which the British government agreed to allow the U.S. to construct and control the canal.