Hay-Pauncefote Treaty

[ hey-pawns-foot ]

noun

1. an agreement (1901) between the United States and Great Britain giving the United States the sole right to build a canal across Central America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hay-Pauncefote Treaty¹

Named after J. M. Hay and Julian Pauncefote (1828–1902), English diplomat

Example Sentences

As this question did not arise in the New York State campaign, I had had no occasion to discuss it except on one occasion when I was asked what my stand was upon that subject, and I plainly stated that I did not favor the remission of tolls, as it conflicted with the spirit, if not with the express wording, of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, and that I would only favor it in the event the question were left to arbitration and decided in our favor.

From Project Gutenberg

We condemn the Hay-Pauncefote treaty as a surrender of American rights and interests, not to be tolerated by the American people.

From Project Gutenberg

The Hay-Pauncefote treaty is in supersession of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Hay-Pauncefote treaty this clause is omitted.

From Project Gutenberg

The only major international agreement that limits the U.S. in its control of the canal itself is a pact not with Panama but with Great Britain: the 1901 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, in which the U.S. promised to keep the canal "open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations . . . on terms of entire equality." and to practice "no discrimination . . . in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise."

From Time Magazine Archive