Darien Scheme Launches: Scotland's Colony Will Be a Disaster
Scotland gambled a quarter of its entire liquid capital—roughly £400,000—on five ships heading to Panama's fever coast. The Caledonia, St. Andrew, Unicorn, Dolphin, and Endeavour carried 1,200 colonists from Leith in July 1698, convinced they'd build a trading empire at Darién. Within eight months, 400 were dead from disease and starvation. The survivors abandoned New Edinburgh before year's end. The financial catastrophe bankrupted Scottish nobles and merchants alike, making union with England seven years later not just politically convenient but economically necessary. Sometimes an empire dies before it's born.
July 14, 1698
328 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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