Initiated by Secretary of State Hay and Lord Pauncefote, then British ambassador to the US, this treaty stated that the Americans could build a canal and control the zone area, but could not fortify it. In 1900, the Senate, being strongly led by Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt, rejected the treaty and insisted on it incorporating fortification as well. In due course, the Hay - Pauncefote Treaty was changed, giving the US full control and at the same time, whittling Britain's involvement down to nothing. It basically violated everything that had been agreed upon in the Clayton - Bulwer Treaty of 1850 and led to the signing of the Hay - Bunau-Varilla Treaty between America and Panama in 1903.
