IN this short series to mark the 325th anniversary of the start of the Darien Scheme, I will be writing today mainly about the events leading up to…
IN this short series to mark the 325th anniversary of the start of the Darien Scheme, I will be writing today mainly about the events leading up to the expedition’s start and next week I will describe what happened to the would-be Scottish colonists in this month of 1698.
There had been previous failed attempts by Scots to establish colonies in the Americas, but the French ousted them from Nova Scotia in the 1620s, while East Jersey was never adequately established and eventually merged with West Jersey to form a colony. In the 1680s, Stuarts Town in the Carolinas lasted only a couple of years before it was vanquished by the Spanish. Meanwhile, England got its colonies going and they overcame many initial problems to thrive.
Paterson showed how the colony on the narrowest piece of land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans could be the “door of the seas and the key of the universe” and people believed him utterly. The Company really had wanted to trade with Africa and the Americas – its coat of arms features what are recognisably an American Indian and a black African as well as an elephant and a camel – but its sole venture became the Darien Scheme.
We know that the Company of Scotland was conceived as a colonial and mercantile project – mercantilists believed you made wealth by taking profits, land and assets from existing businesses – with a capitalisation of £800,000, half of which was to be raised in England. Paterson used his contacts in England and on the Continent to raise investment, but then the East India Company intervened, fearful of a competitor north of the Border, and the loss of investment from English sources.
As King of Scotland, William had allowed the Act forming the Company to go through the Scottish Parliament. But now he let it be known that he was against the Darien Scheme and English investment disappeared. The list of subscribers still maintained by the Royal Bank of Scotland shows the extraordinary range of Scots who joined the rush to invest. The minimum investment was £100, and many noble and wealthy families took out four-figure subscriptions, but what is really impressive is the names and numbers of “ordinary” people who got involved, forming syndicates to invest at least the minimum “ton”.
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