|
Scotland - Scottish overseas colonies
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 principle that led to the construction of the Panama Canal much later.
The Company of Scotland easily raised subscriptions in London for the scheme.
But the English government opposed the idea: involved in the War of the Grand Alliance from 1689 to 1697 against France, it did not want to offend Spain, which claimed the territory as part of New Granada.
The English investors had perforce to withdraw.
Returning to Edinburgh, the Company raised 400,000 pounds in a few weeks.
Three small fleets with a total of 3000 men eventually set out for Panama in 1698. The exercise proved a disaster.
Poorly equipped; beset by incessant rain; under attack by the Spanish from nearby Cartagena; and refused aid by the English in the West Indies, the colonists abandoned their project in 1700.
Only 1000 survived and only one ship managed to return to Scotland.
A desperate ship from the colony which called at Port Royal received no assistance — on the orders of the English government.
Realising the dangers of the conflicting claims and aims of two independent kingdoms at odds with one another, William of Orange called for a union of the two countries. It did not happen. Union, when it did come in 1707, provided for free trade between the countries and gave the Scots access to the burgeoning British Empire.
Article is provided courtesy of Wikipedia.org and distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Click here for the Scotland360.com History of Scotland Index page.
 
|
 
 
|
