Darien scheme
The Darien scheme or the Darien venture was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia or Britain-in-Panama, a colony in the Darién Gap on the territory of present-day Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the colony, located on the Gulf of Darién, to establish and manage an overland route to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The backers knew that the first sighting of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa was after crossing the isthmus through Darién. The expedition also claimed sovereignty over "Crab Isle" in 1698, yet sovereignty was short-lived. The settlement attempt failed; more than 80 percent of participants died within a year, and the settlement was abandoned twice.
There are many potential explanations for the disaster, including poor planning and provisioning; divided leadership; a lack of trade with local indigenous tribes or neighbouring Dutch and English colonies; epidemics of tropical disease; widespread opposition to the scheme from commercial interests in England; and a failure to anticipate a military response from the Spanish Empire. The settlement was abandoned in March 1700 after a siege by Spanish forces that also blockaded the harbour.
As the Company of Scotland was backed by approximately 20 percent of all the money circulating in Scotland, its failure left the entire Scottish Lowlands in financial ruin. This was an important factor in weakening resistance to the Act of Union.
The land where the Darien colony was built is located in the modern territory of Guna Yala.
Origins
The late 17th century was a difficult period for Scotland, as it was for much of the rest of Europe; the years 1695-1697 saw catastrophic famine in present-day Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, plus an estimated two million deaths in France and Northern Italy. The 1690s were Scotland's coldest decade in the past 750 years, as documented in tree-ring records.Scotland's economy was relatively small, its range of exports was limited, and it was in a weak position in relation to England, its powerful neighbour. In an era of economic rivalry in Europe, Scotland was incapable of protecting itself from the effects of English competition and legislation. The kingdom had no reciprocal export trade and its once-thriving industries such as shipbuilding were in deep decline; goods that were in demand had to be bought from England for sterling. Moreover, the Navigation Acts further increased economic dependence on England by limiting Scotland's shipping, and the Royal Scots Navy was relatively small. Although the unusual cold affected much of the Northern Hemisphere, Scotland suffered disproportionately and lost 10-15% of its entire population, possibly because of its political isolation. A series of domestic conflicts, including the 1639–51 Wars of the Three Kingdoms and unrest related to religious differences between 1670-1690, exhausted the people and diminished their resources. The so-called "seven ill years" of the 1690s saw widespread crop failures and famine, while Scotland's deteriorating economic position led to calls for a political or customs union with England. However, the stronger feeling among Scots was that the country should become a great mercantile and colonial power in the manner of England.
In response, several solutions were enacted by the Parliament of Scotland: in 1695 the Bank of Scotland was established; the Act for the Settling of Schools created 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 the face of opposition by English commercial interests, the Company of Scotland raised subscriptions in Amsterdam, Hamburg and London for the scheme. For his part, King William II of Scotland and III of England had given only lukewarm support to the whole Scottish colonial endeavour. England was at war with France and hence did not want to offend Spain, which claimed the territory as part of New Granada.
One reason for English opposition to the scheme was the prevalent economic theory of mercantilism, which tended to viewed markets as static and therefore often necessitated the seizure of market share by usurping it from others. This meant that the Darien scheme posed an active threat to English merchants rather than mere competition.
England was also under pressure from the London-based East India Company, which was keen to maintain its monopoly over English foreign trade and forced the English and Dutch investors to withdraw. The EIC then threatened legal action, claiming that the Scots had no authority from the king to raise funds outside of the English realm, and obliged the promoters to refund subscriptions to the Hamburg investors. This left no source of finance but Scotland itself. Returning to Edinburgh, the Company of Scotland for Trading to Africa raised £400,000 sterling in a few weeks, with investments from every level of society, and totalling about one fifth of the wealth of Scotland, a massive amount of capital.
Scottish-born trader and financier William Paterson had long promoted a plan for a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Essentially the intention was to tame, occupy and administer the land of the Darién Gap, later known to be virtually untraversable. The colony was to be situated on a gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans permitting trade between them–the same principle that, much later, led to the construction of the Panama Railroad and the Panama Canal. Paterson was instrumental in launching the company in London. He had failed to interest several European countries in his project but, in the aftermath of the English reaction to the company, he secured a hearing for his ideas. The Duke of Hamilton, a major supporter of the scheme, planned to import slaves "to be worked to death" at local gold mines in the region after a Scottish colony had been established in Panama.
The Scots' original aim of emulating the East India Company by capitalising on the lucrative trading areas of the Indies and Africa was forgotten, and the highly ambitious Darien scheme was adopted by the company. Paterson later fell from grace when a subordinate embezzled funds from the company, reclaimed Paterson's stock and expelled him from the Court of Directors; he was to have little real influence on events after this point. Historian Stephen Mullen referred to the scheme as a "mercantilist venture designed to improve personal fortunes and Scotland's balance of trade through colonisation and exploitation".
First expedition (1698)
Many former officers and soldiers, who had little hope of other employment, eagerly joined the Darien project. Many of them were acquainted from serving in the army and several–Thomas Drummond, for example–were notorious for their involvement in the Massacre of Glencoe. In some eyes they appeared to be a clique, and this was to cause much suspicion among other members of the expedition. The first council, appointed in July 1698, was intended to govern the colony until a parliament could be established and consisted of Major James Cunningham of Eickett, Daniel Mackay, James Montgomerie, William Vetch, Robert Jolly, Robert Pinkerton and Captain Robert Pennecuik.The first expedition of five ships set sail from the east coast port of Leith to avoid observation by the Royal Navy in July 1698, with about 1,200 people aboard. The journey around Scotland for those kept below deck was so traumatic that some colonists thought it comparable to the worst parts of the entire Darien experience. 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". The fleet called at Madeira and the West Indies, and took possession of Crab Isle, which would be taken by the Danish after the failure of the colony. Employing former pirate Robert Allison as a pilot, the fleet reached the coast of Darien on 2 November.
The settlers christened their new home Caledonia, declaring: "we do here settle and in the name of God establish ourselves; and in honour and for the memory of that most ancient and renowned name of our Mother Country, we do, and will from henceforward call this country by the name of Caledonia; and ourselves, successors, and associates, by the name of Caledonians". With Drummond in charge, they dug a ditch through the neck of land that divided one side of the harbour in Caledonia Bay from the ocean, and constructed Fort St Andrew, which was equipped with fifty cannons, but no source of fresh water. This ditch is the only identifiable remnant of Caledonia. A watchhouse on a mountain completed the fortifications. Although the harbour appeared to be a natural one, it later proved to have tides that could easily wreck a vessel trying to leave. The colony was a potential threat to the Spanish Empire because of its proximity to routes used for silver shipments. The feasibility of the scheme, especially for a country of Scotland's limited resources, has often been considered doubtful, although some modern authorities consider that it might have succeeded if it had been given the support of England.
Although chosen site was only 80 km from the Pacific Ocean, it lies in an area where overland transport would have been extremely difficult to impossible.
New Edinburgh
Close to the fort, the settlers began erecting the huts of the main settlement, New Edinburgh, and clearing land to plant yams and maize. Letters sent home by the expedition created a misleading impression that events were unfolding according to plan. This seems to have been by agreement, as certain optimistic phrases were repeatedly stated in the messages. However, the delusion left the Scottish public completely unprepared for the coming disaster.Agriculture proved difficult and the natives, though hostile to Spain, were unwilling to trade for the combs and other trinkets offered by the colonists. Most serious was the nearly complete failure to sell any goods to the few passing traders who passed through the bay. With the onset of summer the following year, malaria and fever caused many deaths. Eventually, the mortality rate rose to ten settlers per day. Natives brought gifts of fruit and plantains, but these were appropriated by the leaders and sailors, who mostly remained on board ships. The settlers did succeed in hunting for giant turtles, but fewer and fewer men were fit enough for such strenuous work. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of food, mainly the result of a high rate of spoilage caused by improper stowing. At the same time, King William instructed the Dutch and English colonies in America not to supply the Scots' settlement, fearing the wrath of the Spanish Empire. The only reward that the council could offer was alcohol, and drunkenness became common, even though it sped the deaths of men already weakened by dysentery, fever and the rotting, worm-infested food.
After just eight months, the colony was abandoned in July 1699, except for six men who were too weak to move. The deaths continued on the ships, and only 300 of the 1,200 settlers survived. A desperate ship from the colony sought refuge at the Jamaican city of Port Royal, but it was refused assistance on the orders of the English government, who feared antagonising the Spanish. Those on the single ship that returned home were generally regarded as a disgrace to their country, and many were disowned by their families. The Caledonia, with 250 survivors, including William Paterson and the Drummond brothers, made a desperate passage to New York, then just a small town of 5000, landing on 10 August. Four days later, Unicorn limped into New York harbour. In a letter to Hugh Montgomerie, a Glasgow merchant, Robert Drummond reported that sickness and mortality continued to afflict the remnant of the colonists. When the Scots were told that two ships, the Olive Branch and Hopeful Beginning, had already sailed to resupply the now deserted colony, Thomas Drummond commissioned two sloops to aid their efforts in Darien.