64 years before the Panama canal was opened, Americans proposed a
railway to connect the oceans. The year was 1850, and Millard Fillmore
was thrust into Presidential seat when Zachary Taylor died. Once
Fillmore took office, American businessmen began pressing his
administration to put pressure on Mexico to uphold their rights to build
a railway on the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec. These same businessmen went further and warned the Mexican
government that they would being lobbying for military intervention if
their rights were not upheld. President Fillmore wanted to get
personally involved in international policy, but had no desire to employ
the military to aid businessmen, rather he offered to re-negotiate the
railroad rights on behalf of the investors. In his first annual address
to congress, the President expressed his confidence that negotiations
with Mexico would be successful.
"Citizens of the United States have undertaken the connection of the two oceans by means of a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, under grants of the Mexican Government to a citizen of that Republic. It is understood that a thorough survey of the course of the communication is in preparation, and there is every reason to expect that it will be prosecuted with characteristic energy, especially when that Government shall have consented to such stipulations with the Government of the United States as may be necessary to impart a feeling of security to those who may embark their property in the enterprise. Negotiations are pending for the accomplishment of that object, and a hope is confidently entertained that when the Government of Mexico shall become duly sensible of the advantages which that country can not fail to derive from the work, and learn that the Government of the United States desires that the right of sovereignty of Mexico in the Isthmus shall remain unimpaired, the stipulations referred to will be agreed to with alacrity."Just three months later, on February 25, 1851 the Treaty of Tehuantepec was ratified by the Senate and signed by Fillmore, but the Mexican government rejected it due to pressure by the Catholic church, which feared American influence in Mexico. Shown in the picture above is a quadruple track ship-railway across the Isthmus proposed by American civil engineer and inventor, James Buchanan Eads.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until 1907 that a railroad was finally open along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This was 52 years after the Panama Railway was completed. By then, the Panama Canal had already been under construction for 20+ years. Perhaps, had Fillmore been successful negotiating with Mexico, Tehuantepec would have been a name familiar to all of us. But to be fair to Fillmore, additional failed efforts were tried for many years after his presidency. The ship-railway shown above was seriously considered by congress in the 1880's. The senate approved Ead's ship-railway system in 1887, but it was blocked by the House of Representatives just months after Ead's passed away.
http://
http://en.wikipedia.org/
"Diplomacy Far Removed: A Reinterpretation of the U.S. Decision to Open Diplomatic Relations with Japan", pgs 55 - 56
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1777.htm
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