Scotland was once a sovereign nation. How did they lose their independence? Because of a dumb idea.
Scotland had always been a nation-state like France or Japan, and remains a distinct society. It shared a king with England for a time, but retained its own parliament, economy, and judiciary. By 1698, though, it was hard to compete with England and its vast overseas empire, so they planned a colony of their own: New Caledonia, now eastern Panama. King William of Orange approved, and work began. Ships were built, money was raised, and 2500 Scottish colonists signed-on.
Trouble was that Scotland had never done this before, Spain contested their territorial claim, and their own King pulled a double-cross. When London merchants complained about the competition, William voided all monies raised in England and forbade his other American colonies from trading with New Caledonia. He extended the boycott to the Netherlands, which he already led before usurping the British throne.
Patriots poured-in thousands of hard-earned Scottish pounds to keep the project afloat, but they faced long odds. Scots and their indigenous Tule allies won one skirmish with Spain but lost another. Disease racked the nascent community, and the expected stores of gold proved elusive. When the second wave of settlers arrived, they found the colony deserted. Historian Karin Bowie notes that half the people from both expeditions died, with eleven ships lost. The project failed after just two years.
What became known as the Darien Scheme all but bankrupted the country. Opportunistic English elites saw their chance, alternating threats and bribes to pull Scotland into a hated Treaty of Union in 1707. Independence was lost, political power now concentrated in London. It took nearly two centuries before a devolved Scottish Parliament returned. To this day many Scots clamor for full independence, still rueing the ill-fated Darien Scheme.
I’m Jeff Gentry
Best reference:
Bowie, K. (2021). The Darien Scheme. History Today, 71(12), 28–39.
Dumb Ideas that Changed the World copyright 2024 by Jeff Gentry. All rights reserved.
