Scottish History: Colonization in Panama

[Music] on august 15 1914 the panama canal opened the culmination of a massive engineering project that has transformed the world's economy in the century before there had been many different schemes and visions and even some attempts to cross the isthmus as the economic potential of a trade route between china and europe via the caribbean was recognized but actually the economic potential of panama was recognized long before that in the latter part of the 17th century scotland looked to reverse decades of economic decline and join europe's great powers by creating a colony in the americas several different ventures failed but by 1690 they had settled on a promising new possibility panama the darian scheme the scottish attempt to colonize panama might have changed the world it is history that deserves to be remembered the 1600s were a century of struggle for scotland in 1603 james vi king of the scots had inherited the crown of england and become english king james the first but the two kingdoms remained separate otherwise religious fighting throughout the century persisted leading in terms to the bishops wars the english civil war and in the middle of the century the execution of charles the first and the establishment of the cromwellian protectorate scotland fought against cromwell in support of charles ii but was ultimately defeated and kept under military occupation restoration of the monarchy in 1660 brought little relief scotland was traditionally friendly with france but english and french conflict prevented scotland from trading with him and the navigation ax forbade scotland from trading with england's colonies the glorious revolution in 1688 saw king james vii dethroned but scottish jacobites continued to fight the english in his name on top of all that the 1690s brought them a major slump in trade historically cold winters and a series of bad harvests collectively called the seven ill years the population in some areas reached as high as 25 percent scottish interests were actively searching for a way to expand scotland's trading potential in the hope of rescuing their faltering economy the man with the idea that would stick was william patterson patterson was born in scotland around 1658 and had immigrated to the bahamas where he had first heard of darion a region in what is now panama panama was an important locus of trade and much of spain's colonial wealth passed through the region first cited by europeans in 1501 in 1510 vasco nunez del boboa founded a town in darien the first city founded by conquistadors in mainland america although it was abandoned in favor of panama city in 1534 the spanish king even ordered a survey to assess the feasibility of building a canal across the region patterson saw potential in panama and on his return to england he attempted to convince the english to establish a colony there the english were then involved in a war with france didn't want to antagonize the spanish so they declined patterson also tried to convince the dutch and the holy roman empire to establish a colony of darien patterson wealthy from his part in the slave trade and after having played a significant role in the founding of the bank of england finally returned to scotland where he was able to convince the scottish government of his plan scottish enterprises had attempted colonization in the americas several times before first at nova scotia which was finally successfully settled in 1629 only to be lost to the french by triki in 1632 half of the new jersey colony was designated east jersey as a scottish settlement although it would eventually be merged into a royal colony scotland was also able to secure part of carolina as a scottish colony which was then wiped out by the spanish only two years after its founding in 1693 the scottish parliament passed legislation allowing for a joint stock company that could found colonies the act in favor of the scots trading company trading to africa in the indies the scots trading company was meant to be the scottish equivalent to the british and dutch east india companies the act forming the company granted it exclusive privilege of trade between scotland and america for 31 years in a perpetual monopoly to arm and equip its ships in trade to asia and africa king william iii was fighting in europe at the time and on his return he remarked that he was a little surprised at the sweeping nature of the concession given to the company though the location was initially kept secret the endeavor was hardly supported by the scottish populace the scots opened up subscription books to support the company in london on november 13 1695 and they closed only nine days later with three hundred thousand pounds subscribed then the first of many roadblocks appeared the english government listening to complaints from the east india company discouraged investment and many of the investors suddenly withdrew scotland nick sought subscriptions from holland and hamburg both of which fell apart thanks to english influence scotland had only one other option for financing the scottish people themselves all ranks yea the body of the nation are longing to have a plantation in america scottish promoters advertised initially the company was supported only by the scottish elite but without foreign assistance the company couldn't be financed on the backs of the wealthy alone since england was actively sabotaging the effort the average scotsman was suddenly interested as a display of patriotism scottish historian peter hume brown would later say that there has been no such enthusiasm in the country it was shown by all classes in their eagerness to invest their savings in the company it was fueled another historian said by an astonishing outburst of patriotic defiance without foreign support the company had to increase the necessary figure as well seeking four hundred thousand pounds sterling despite widespread poverty the people scotland showed up the amount of money subscribed was incredible it's been estimated to be 20 or more of the total capital available in the country the scots had pledged 2.5 pounds sterling per person even critics were impressed with when writing to be short they came in shoals from all corners of the kingdom to edinburgh rich poor blind and lame to lodge their subscriptions the company also broke tradition by allowing women to invest which a large number did including 22 widows while they considered other activities patterson's plan became the primary goal perhaps the most progressive aspect was for the colony at darion to be available to all countries for trade in general trade at the time was of the mercantilist system usually controlled by a single country or company that kept others out adam smith's wealth of nations which champion free trade wouldn't be published for another 80 years with the money in hand the company scotland bought supplies and ships and they researched the region in this with all good stories they turned to pirates they consulted the recently published a new voyage around the world by pirates william dampier who had crossed the darian isthmus and invited another pirate lionel wafer to consult wafer had been abandoned on the isthmus and was taken in by the indigenous locals who undertook to cure him wafer said that there was little spanish presence in the caribbean and that the wild locals lived some distance from the shore which would allow the scots to build a port he also told them where to build a fort and of the locations of fresh water wafer thought that the darien isthmus was one of the most valuable spots of ground in the world in only three years from the company's inception it was able to execute its daring plan to outfit and send an expedition to form a colony in the new world on july 14 1698 the first three of five ships set sail from leith to the caribbean only a few months delayed from their initial goal patterson his family sailed with them they sailed in secret going north around scotland and ireland to avoid the english even the captains didn't know where they were headed they opened up sealed letters at pre-arranged locations that led them to the next stage of their journey the five ships were well stocked with supplies meant to last at least a year once they arrived and carried 1200 people in october the fleet arrived at the isthmus and met with local chiefs who according to scottish reports pledged to sponsor the settlement and asked to be taken under the scottish protection and government 76 people had died on the journey including patterson's wife but the survival rate itself was better than average they christened the colony new caledonia after the ancient name for scotland the native peoples were not naive or stupid as europeans often believed and the scots found negotiations complex and difficult the indigenous people were attempting to work the various powers against each other even as the scots arrived an english agent was attempting to negotiate a colony on the isthmus lokos also pressed the scots very hard to come and live by them and also jointly to make war against the spaniards the colonists built a fort and christened it for saint andrew they established a seven-person council with rotating leadership with a new council member leading each month the initial months of settlement were reasonably successful and the colonists sent back positive accounts to their homeland counts that may have been deliberately rosier than reality unfortunately the success wouldn't last the region was in a state of war the locals especially the guna people were trying to keep the spanish out and the caribbean was filling up with pirates who raided the coasts worse the spanish were already on high alert concerning the darian region news from the guna and the constant threat of attack war on morale which worsened when the king began vocally opposing the venture in parliament the council of trade and plantations declared the settlement broke english treaties with spain and the colony would be highly mischievous to english interests in the region the scots had repeatedly sought royal permission for their venture but the king ultimately decided the colony was a threat after those initial months bad luck and low morale began to drag down the colony the bay had treacherous tides that threatened the ships their delayed departure left provisions exceedingly short on what was given out or expected still the captain of one ship pronounced that i have sailed for the space of eight years together in america and i must say i never in all that time had provisions that held out so well the choice of trade items has also been criticized but they did carry iron mongeri and clothing to barter unfortunately no one was there willing to trade with them the delay in setting out also meant they landed at the height of the rainy season which brought so much rain that it made building the settlement of new edinburgh nearly impossible this is also the peak season for malaria when they arrived during a serious outbreak of yellow fever the colony sent expeditions overland to find the pacific but quickly discovered that a reliable overland trade route through the dense jungles would be impossible in the short term they failed to grow significant food and their supplies became infested with maggots and worms so the colonists became like so many skeletons king william ordered english and dutch colonies in the caribbean to offer no support and send a message to the spanish specifically disavowing the colony even france stood against them yay when scott said it is plainly the interest of france to have caledonia broken the colonists were sorry to find that our good intentions therein must in all probability prove abortive because of the proclamations they begged the king for support writing that we pray you to remember how promises made you to advance our trade have been broke after six months 25 percent of the original colonists have been lost by the summer of 1699 lack of provisions and disease decimated the rest as deaths reached 10 a day by july the remaining ships fled the colony and limped to the small settlement of new york after they were turned away in jamaica just 300 of the initial 1200 colonists would return home unaware of the disaster two ships and around 300 new colonists arrived at the abandoned colony in august but found nothing but ruins and graves one of the ships burned in an accident in the harbor and the other sailed back home later that fall a second expedition arrived also unaware that there was no colony to join the thousand new colonists landed anyway to try and salvage the situation infighting amongst the leaders nearly paralyzed the country as the spanish sent a force to oust them the situation was only briefly stabilized when colonel alexander campbell arrived sent by the company to prepare defense campbell provided able leadership and even defeated a spanish force at a nearby stockade but unfortunately he was wounded in the action and soon incapacitated by fever the spanish then sent 11 ships to evict the scots and surrounded the struggling colony the native people abandoned the scots to their fate and on march 31 1700 the surviving settlers signed the articles of capitulation were allowed to leave with their guns most of the thousand settlers who arrived were already dead the scope of the failure was enormous nearly all the ships would sink attempting to return home and what few colonists returned found in angry country one columnist roger oswald wrote since it pleased god that i preserved my life and had not the good fortune to lose it in this place i never intended nor do intend to trouble my father anymore the damage to scottish pride was devastating but no less than the loss of so much of the country's money the company had lost more than half of the money raised in subscriptions leaving investors destitute the disaster was nearly complete and though the scottish company survived it struggled to find success in the face of english opposition the venture has also been cited as a key part of why scotland agreed to the acts of union in 1707 which united scotland and england to form the kingdom of great britain the disaster at darien has long been held as an example of a small country whose ambitions exceeded their ability but the fact is that the scottish settlers at darion were as well prepared as any of the other european colonists who had made that dangerous journey although the obstacles faced by the colony of darion were perhaps larger than any of those other ones seeking to establish a new life in the new world their choice of location may have played a part in their failure darien now panamanian province remains a wilderness sparsely populated and the only gap in the pan-american highway the colony at darien was known not so much by poor planning than by the concerted opposition in 1722 scottish minister francis borland wrote a memoir of the colony and in it he concluded no wonder that our infant colony here in darien could not long thriving be by such ill neighbors in a spot beset with grief and daily views of death remote from friends the object of envy too many who did wish that we here might die i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send those to our suggestions email box check out our webpage at thehistoryguy.net and of course we're on facebook instagram and twitter you can book a special message from the history guy on cameo and check out our merchandise at teespring.com and if you'd like more episodes of forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 73,666

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, scotland, darien, panama, Caribbean history, economic history

Id: XdRAy4C9bPw

Length: 14min 27sec (867 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 14 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Glesganed]

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation

Edit: down voted for quoting Robert Burns on r/Scotland. I guess some Scots have no pride in their Bard.

[u/AbominableCrichton]

This event seems to be getting lots of videos and articles written about it recently. I've got multiple books on it and none say anything about 30 to 50 percent of the nation's wealth being used up in the venture. Probably more like 10 to 15 percent. Originally only 50 percent of the company board members were based in Scotland. A lot were Scots living in London and it even included English and a Jewish guy prior to King Billy throwing the spanner in the works with trade bans etc.

[u/[deleted]]

Ahh when rich scots lost money, and sold us into a union no one wanted for profit, not to mention the alien act was a kick when we were down forcing scotland to join.

[u/RevinHatol]

I wonder is the Burma/Myanmar of this timeline would turn out?