Balboa’s heirs
Spain and identity construction in California and Panama at the beginning of the 20th century
Keywords:
Nationalism, Identities, Commemorations, Panama, California, SpainAbstract
Between 1909 and 1916, several commemorations and expositions connected the Panama Canal opening to the Spanish heritage. The centennial of the Pacific Ocean discovery in 1513 produced a versatile myth: that of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Canal predecessor and symbol of Spanish nobility. Therefore, it was used in some identity-building processes: Californians integrated it in the search of singularity within the United States through their origins in the Spanish empire; in Panama, he became a national hero and a link to the Hispanic American community. Both cases claimed the presence of Spain to legitimize these new identities, but the Spanish answers were diverse: while the collaboration was easy in Panama, in California was only supported by Spanish Liberals willing to overcome the national crisis of 1898 in order to modernize their country. Nationalization methods, cultural representations, and involved actors show the transnational character of these historical processes, usually underestimated by scholars.
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