What Makes You Happy?

In 1903, the U.S. offered to pay a quarter of what France was paying for its canal in Panama. The Colombian government refused and demanded more money from the United States. A French lawyer tried to gum up the works by trying to convince Teddy Roosevelt that Panamanians didn't even want to be part of Columbia. This caused him to give the green light for a U.S.-backed separatist coup in Panama.