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Aizpurúa – U.S. Imperialism and the Panamá Canal Zone: Culture, Music, and Panamanian Nationalism

 

U.S. Imperialism and the Panamá Canal Zone: Culture, Music, and Panamanian Nationalism (2024)

Undergraduate: Héctor Aizpurúa


Faculty Advisor: David Garcia
Department: History, Music

Between 1904 and 1914 around 40 thousand Panamanians were removed from their homes and forced out of the Isthmus of Panamá. Generations of families had inhabited the Isthmus and had been part of the global economy dating as far back as the 16th century. Despite this long history on the Isthmus, they were seen as unfit for modern civilization and underserving of being part of the construction of the Canal. They were forced out of the zone and their removal was justified as a necessity to complete the Panamá Canal. In reality the removal of Panamanians from the Isthmus had very little to do with the construction of the canal. My research focuses on this issue and explores the reasons behind the depopulation of the zone. I also aim to highlight the lives of the people who were removed from their homes by sharing their musical traditions, their history on the isthmus, and how the depopulation affected them.