Clayton‐Bulwer Treaty (1850).America's expanded trade in the Far East and acquisition of Oregon and
California in the 1840s heightened U.S. policy‐makers' interest in a Central American canal. Further, President Zachary
Taylor and Secretary of State John M. Clayton hoped to restrict English hegemony to British Honduras (Belize), foreclosing any other British claims in the region. These U.S. interests, however, threatened Great Britain's presence and ambitions. In late 1849, Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston dispatched to Washington a new minister, Sir Henry Bulwer, to avert a crisis. Bulwer sought to protect British interests—focusing upon Honduras, the adjoining Bay Islands, the Atlantic (Mosquito) coast of Nicaragua, and the remainder of the isthmus—from American
expansionism.
Clayton and Bulwer signed an ambiguous treaty on 19 April 1850, declaring that neither country would build a canal in Central America without mutual consent or cooperation. If a canal were built, both nations would guarantee its neutrality. Each power also pledged neither to fortify nor to establish colonies in the region.
Although the agreement blocked further British expansion, it infuriated many Americans, who realized that it had compromised America's exclusive opportunity to build a canal and likely violated the
Monroe Doctrine. Moreover, the British refused to withdraw from Honduras or Nicaragua. For the next half‐century, differing interpretations of the treaty caused friction between the two countries. Finally, in 1901, the Hay‐Pauncefote Treaty abrogated Clayton‐Bulwer and gave the United States sole rights to build and maintain a canal.
See also
Foreign Relations: U.S. Relations with Latin America;
Hay, John;
Panama Canal.
Bibliography
Mary W. Williams , Anglo‐American Isthmian Diplomacy, 1815–1915, 1914; reprint, 1965.
Wilbur D. Jones , The American Problem in British Diplomacy, 1841–1861, 1974.
John M. Belohlavek
