ABSTRACT
The “Colossus of the North” was an important metaphor with an extraordinary influence at the time Hanke invoked it. Colombians were keen on wielding it to protest Washington’s support of Panamanian independence and the Isthmian canal concession. Panamanians summoned it for the contrary purpose; to ingratiate the powerful sponsor of their sovereignty. The challenges of war, commerce, and sovereignty dictated the terms of the Iberian Empire’s relations with the United States before the Monroe Doctrine and the era of Manifest Destiny. The Colossus of the North profoundly influenced the historical profession and the study of Latin American history in the United States. The distinction between Latin American history, diplomatic history, and current affairs was blurry. The first Pan-American historians ignored Iberia when examining the American Revolution, however. The American Revolution had the salutary effect of bringing renewed prosperity to Spanish America, especially the peripheral colonies.
