Independence Act of Panama Independence Act of Panama The Declaration of Independence of Panama (Acta de Independencia de Panamá) is the document through which Panama declared its independence from the Spanish Empire on 28 November 1821. It was proclaimed in the Cathedral plaza of Panama City after a council of leaders had met and drafted twelve points calling for severing Panama's relationship with the Spanish Crown and joining with the newly formed Republic of Gran Colombia. After rebels in the small provincial town of Villa de los Santos issued the "Primer "Grito de Independencia de la Villa de Los Santos"" (Shout for Independence), on
Separation of Panama from Colombia under Tomás de Herrera. After rejoining Colombia following a 13-month independence, it remained a province which saw frequent rebellious flare-ups, notably the Panama crisis of 1885, which saw the intervention of the United States Navy. During the construction of the Panama canal, the initial attempts by France to construct a sea-level canal across the isthmus were secured through treaty with Colombia; however French cost overruns and corruption in the Panama scandals led to abandonment of the Canal for a decade. During the intervening years, local separatists used the political instability of the Thousand Days' War to agitate for political separation