Darien expedition
| Caledonia | |||||
| Colony of the Kingdom of Scotland | |||||
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Flag of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies |
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| Capital |
New Edinburgh Coordinates: 8°50′02.47″N 77°37′54.47″W / 8.8340194°N 77.6317972°W |
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| King of Scotland | |||||
| • | 1689–1702 | William II | |||
| Leader | |||||
| • | 1698–1700 | Thomas Drummond | |||
| • | January – February 1700 | Alexander Campbell of Fonab | |||
| Historical era | Colonial period | ||||
| • | Landfall | 2 November 1698 | |||
| • | First colony abandoned | July 1699 | |||
| • | Second colony established | November 30, 1699 | |||
| • | Second colony abandoned | February 1700 | |||
| Population | |||||
| • | 1698 | 1,200 | |||
| • | 1700 | 2,500 | |||
| Today part of |
 Panama
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Flag of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies
The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama on the Gulf of Darién in the late 1690s. The aim was for the colony to have an overland route that connected the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. From the beginning it has been claimed historically that the undertaking was beset by poor planning and provisioning, divided leadership, a lack of demand for trade goods particularly caused by an English trade blockade, devastating epidemics of disease, collusion between the English East India Company and the English government, as well as a failure to anticipate the Spanish Empire's military response. It was finally abandoned in March 1700 after a siege by Spanish forces, which also blockaded the harbour.
As the Company of Scotland was backed by 25–50% of all the money circulating in Scotland, its failure left the entire Lowlands almost completely ruined and was an important factor in weakening their resistance to the Act of Union (completed in 1707). The land where the Darien colony was built is virtually uninhabited today. It is generally accepted that the plan failed as a result of poor planning and leadership, although a 2016 Master's thesis has suggested that had the venture not been deliberately sabotaged by the English and Spanish governments it could have been a major economic success providing major economic competition to England and Spain.
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Wikipedia