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The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt
by the Kingdom of Scotland to establish a
colony called "New Caledonia"
on the Isthmus of Panama in the 1690s.
Origins
The late 17th century was a difficult period economically for
Scotland. The country's economy was relatively small, its range of
exports limited, and furthermore Scotland was in a weak political
position in relation to the great powers of Europe, including neighbouring England
(with which it was in personal union, but not yet in political
union), and their overseas empires. In this
era of economic uncertainty, rising tariff walls, and trade
rivalries in Europe, Scotland was incapable of protecting itself
from the effects of these trade wars. The kingdom had a tiny navy, and its
merchants did not trade in any luxury goods which were in great
demand. With the background of Jacobitism in the late 17th century the
1690s also saw several years of widescale crop-failure, which
brought famine and led to this period being christened as the "ill
years." This only helped to further exacerbate the deteriorating
economic position of Scotland.
"A New Map of the
Isthmus of Darien
in America, The
Bay of Panama, The Gulph of Vallona or St.
Michael, with its Islands and Countries Adjacent." In
A letter
giving A Description of the Isthmus of Darian, Edinburgh:
1699.
In response to this alarming situation, a number of remedies
were enacted by the Parliament of Scotland: in 1695
the Bank of
Scotland was established; the Act for the Settling of Schools
established a parish-based system of public education throughout
Scotland; and the Company of Scotland was chartered
with capital to be raised by public subscription to trade with
"Africa and the Indies".
In attempts to expand, the Scots had earlier sent settlers to
the English colony of New Jersey and had
established an abortive colony at Stuart's Town in what is now South Carolina.
The Company of Scotland soon became involved with the Darien
scheme, an ambitious plan devised by William Paterson to establish
a colony on the Isthmus of Panama in the hope of
establishing trade with the Far East — the same principle which, much
later, would lead to the construction of the Panama Canal. The
Company of Scotland easily raised subscriptions in London for the
scheme. The English Government, however, was opposed to the idea,
since it was at war with France and did not want to offend Spain, which claimed the territory
as part of New Granada; as a result,
the English investors were forced to withdraw. Returning to Edinburgh, the Company
raised 400,000 pounds sterling in a few weeks (equivalent to
roughly £40 million in 2007[1]), with
investments from every level of society, and totalling roughly a
fifth of the wealth of Scotland.[2]
First
expedition
The old 'Darien' Company Headquarters in
Edinburgh; now demolished.
The first expedition of five ships (Saint Andrew,
Caledonia, Unicorn, Dolphin, and
Endeavour) set sail from Leith on 14 July 1698, with around 1,200 people
on board. Their orders were to proceed to the Bay of
Darien, and make the Isle called the Golden Island … some few
leagues to the leeward of the mouth of the great River of Darien …
and there make a settlement on the mainland. After calling at
Madeira and the West
Indies, the fleet made landfall off the coast of Darien on 2
November. The settlers christened their new home "New
Caledonia".
There they cut a canal through the neck of land that divided one
side of the harbour in Caledonia Bay from the ocean, and
constructed Fort St Andrew, equipped with fifty cannon, on the peninsula behind
the canal. On a mountain, at the opposite side of the harbour, they
built a watchhouse.
Close to the fort they began to erect the huts of the main
settlement, New Edinburgh, and to clear land for growing
yams and maize. Unfortunately for the
majority of the settlers who arrived at Darien, the expedition
would prove to be a disastrous and tragic undertaking.
Agriculture proved difficult and the local Indian tribes,
although friendly, were unwilling to buy the combs and other
trinkets offered by the colonists. With the onset of summer the
following year, the stifling
atmosphere, added to other causes, caused a large number of
deaths in the colony. The mortality rose eventually to ten
settlers a day, despite the care and assistance of the local
Indians. Meanwhile, King William had instructed the
English colonies in America not to supply the Scots' settlement so
as not to incur the wrath of the Spanish Empire,[2]
which in addition to inadequate provisions, combined with the
unfamiliar hot and humid climate, soon caused fever to spread and
many settlers died. In July 1699, after barely eight months, the
colony was abandoned.
Only 300 of the 1,200 settlers survived and only one ship
managed to return to Scotland. A desperate ship from the colony
that called at the Jamaican
city of Port Royal was
refused assistance on the orders of the English government, which
feared antagonising the Spanish.[2]
Second
expedition
Word of the disastrous first expedition did not reach Scotland
in time to prevent a second voyage of more than 1,000 people
leaving Scotland. The
second expedition arrived on November 30, 1699 to discover the
settlement of 'New Edinburgh' deserted and overgrown, but quickly
set about rebuilding it. However, their fear of being driven out by
the Spaniards, who regarded the territory as theirs, led them to
attack the Spanish fort at Toubacanti in January 1700. The Scots
were then subjected to sustained Spanish attacks at Fort St Andrew
for a month before surrendering, and were afterwards allowed to
leave.
Of the total 2,500 settlers that set off, just a few hundred
survived.[3]
Consequences of failure
The failure of the Darien scheme has been cited as one of the
motivations for the 1707 Acts of Union. According to
this argument, the Scottish establishment realised that it could
never be a major power on its own and that if it wanted to share
the benefits of England's international trade and the growth of the
English Empire, then its future would have
to lie in unity with England. More so, the Scottish economy had
been bankrupted by the "Darien Fiasco" and Westminster had been
petitioned by Scotland to wipe out the Scottish national debt and
stabilise the currency. Personal Scottish financial interests were
also involved. Many Scottish Commissioners had invested heavily in
the Darien Scheme and they believed that they would receive
compensation for their losses. The 1707 Acts of Union, Article 14,
granted £398,085 10s sterling to Scotland to offset future
liability towards the English national debt.
See also
- Lionel Wafer,
a surgeon and buccaneer marooned for four years on the isthmus
hired as an adviser by the Darien Company.
- Gregor
MacGregor a Scottish adventurer who claimed to be a descendent
of a survivor of the scheme and cazique of
Poyais.
Other Scottish settlements in America:
References
Further
reading
- Devine, Tom (2003),
Scotland's Empire 1600-1815, London: Allen Lane, ISBN
0713994983
- Edwards, Nat
(2007), Caledonia's Last Stand: In Search of the Lost Scots of
Darien, Edinburgh: Luath Press, ISBN
9781905222841
- Fry, Michael (2001),
The Scottish Empire, Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN
186232185X
- Galbraith,
Douglas (2001), The Rising Sun, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN
087113781X
(fictionalization)
- Hidalgo, Dennis
R. (2001), "To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland
and the Colonization of the Darién", Colonial Latin American
Historical Review 10 (3), ISSN 1063-5769
- Insh, George Pratt,
ed. (1924), Papers Relating to the Ships and Voyages of the
Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies,
1696-1707, Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, Edinburgh University
Press
- Prebble, John
(1968), The Darien Disaster, New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston
External
links
Coordinates: 8°50′02.47″N 77°37′54.47″W / 8.8340194°N
77.6317972°W / 8.8340194;
-77.6317972
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