a story like that about isaac mackenzie gave me a way to understand the experience of the west indianorkers. they tended to be such a tough group to trace because they weren't top officials. they were not writing reports. they were often the most silent but cases like that help me see that west indians did strategizing. they did find ways to mobilize and use whatever resources they could to achieve there end. >> host: who ran the canal zone. was the authority? >> the united states government. >> host: under autonomous canal zone authority? we talked about the supreme court. >> guest: there was a separate judicial system but it was part of the appellate courts of the united states government. the chief engineer of the canal zone had remarkable autonomy. he reported to the secretary of war who was william howard taft. >> host: george washington goebbels was the president of the canal zone? >> guest: yes. he had tremendous authority. like it said about himself, he was a benevolent dictator. it was a very paternalistic system. he was admired by many in the canal zone because he did run th