THE INTEROCEAN1C CANAL PROBLEM 111 



sion only a surer prospect of the extension of the United 

 States north into Canada and south into Mexico and Central 

 America. In the interest of her American colonial posses- 

 sions, Great Britain sought to oppose such advances. The 

 British Government foresaw the importance to England of 

 a neutral Central American canal, and it anticipated the 

 movements of the United States that should seek to place 

 Central America under North American dominion, and de- 

 prive England of those joint proprietary rights in the canal 

 which her trade interests demanded. 



When the British first laid claim to Mosquitia, the Ameri- 

 can people, unmindful, continued to attend to their own 

 domestic affairs ; but when the British reoccupied the east 

 coast of Nicaragua, and seized Greytown, the United States 

 became aroused. The causes that for years had been silently 

 operating to estrange the two nations now came to the 

 surface, and a spirit of jealousy shadowed the popular mind 

 in both England and the United States, and no doubt in- 

 fluenced both governments. The American people resented 

 these recent acts of British aggression in Nicaragua, which 

 they believed to have been inspired through feelings of en- 

 mity toward the United States. The mutual feelings of sus- 

 picion and distrust were enhanced by the determination of 

 Great Britain to stand by the assumptions of the Mosquito 

 chief who obstructed the building of an American canal 

 through his territory. The belief had become general through- 

 out the country and especially in the Southern states, that an 

 open waterway through Nicaragua was absolutely essential to 

 the integrity and welfare of the United States. The demand 

 for a neutral canal had become so urgent, its importance so 

 vital, that the people themselves were ready to risk war for 

 it if need be ; then came the British seizure of Tigre Island, 

 which completed the chain of events that had brought about 

 the bitter jealousies of the two nations. The danger of war 

 in 1850 had become alarming. 



Mr. Clayton, the Secretary of State, fully appreciated 

 the gravity of the situation. As a practical statesman, 

 he believed that the benefits arising from a great com- 



