Darien scheme
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The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Panama.
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[edit] 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. 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 her merchants did not trade in any luxury goods which were in great demand. 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.
Confronted by this alarming situation, a number of remedies for the desperate situation 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, with investments from every level of society, and totaling roughly a third of the wealth of Scotland.
[edit] First expedition
The first expedition of five ships (Saint Andrew, Caledonia, Unicorn, Dolphin, and Endeavour) set sail from Leith on July 14, 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 November 2. 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 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, and inadequate provisions, combined with the unfamiliar hot and humid climate, soon caused fever to spread and many settlers died. In July 1699 the colony was abandoned.
Only 300 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.
[edit] Consequences of failure
The failure of the Darien scheme has been cited as one of the motivations for the 1707 Acts of Union. The English agreed to cover the Scottish Government's debt to its people, and this was likely one of the main reasons the Acts of Union were not as heavily resisted by the government of Scotland as they had with other English attempts to amalgamate the two countries, although prevailing public opinion in Scotland was overwhelmingly against it. See Acts of Union 1707.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Insh, George Pratt, (editor), Papers Relating to the Ships and Voyages of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, 1696-1707, Scottish History Society, Edinburgh University Press, 1924.
- Prebble, John The Darien Disaster, Pimlico, 2002 (originally published in 1968)
- Devine, Tom Scotland's Empire 1600-1815, 2003.
- Hidalgo, Dennis R To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland and the Colonization of the Darién, Colonial Latin American Historical Review, 10:3 (Summer/Verano 2001).
- Fry, Michael The Scottish Empire, 2001
- Galbraith, Douglas The Rising Sun (fictionalization)
