“Actually it’s a common misunderstanding that the zone was a U.S. territory - in fact, the U.S. had lease rights, but not territorial rights.”
Found this on redstate, was curious if you have something that says it was a US territory? Thanks
“The United States and Panama signed an agreement in 1903 establishing the Canal Zone. The pact gave the United States the right to build and operate the Panama Canal and to govern the Zone. The United States pays Panama $1,930,000 a year for the use of the Zone.”
Further down, it says:
“The Canal Zone government is an independent agency of the United States government. It administers the civil government of the Canal Zone. The President of the United States appoints the governor of the Canal Zone for a four-year term. In time of war, the highest ranking United States Army officer in the Canal Zone takes charge of the Zone and the Canal.”
It goes on to describe how the U.S. government operates the Zone’s police & fire departments, its hospitals, sanitation facilities, and schools. This would all tend to support the view that it was some type of U.S. territory. However, it may not have been a U.S. territory in the same sense as Puerto Rico or Guam, because it was never given a non-voting representative in Congress. It was perhaps more of a leased territory since we paid Panama an annual fee (rent) for it.