New Edinburgh (Darién)

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Map of New Caledonia (1729) by Hermann Moll, cartographer and geographer from Solingen, Germany.

New Edinburgh in Darién was Scotland's failed attempt at the end of the 17th century in its colonization efforts to establish a settlement in Panama , Central America (see also Darién project ).

history

On July 14, 1698, five ships ( Saint Andrew , Caledonia , Unicorn , Dolphin , and Endeavor ) left the port of Leith in Scotland. Over 1,200 people were on board the ships, recruited by the Company of Scotland for one of the most ambitious colonization projects of the time. Their destination was the Bay of Darién in Panama , Central America . The settlers reached their destination in early November and built Fort St Andrew first . New Edinburgh, so named in honor of the Scottish capital Edinburgh , was to be built south of it . The unfamiliar hot and humid climate, malaria and unsuccessful food production quickly brought the settlement project to failure. Most of the settlers died. In July 1699, the New Edinburgh settlement was abandoned. 300 survivors reached Scotland months later.

Unaware of the unsuccessful settlement, a further 1,300 settlers set out from Scotland in August 1699. Arrived in November 1699, it was decided to rebuild the settlement. Fought by the Spaniards, who were also interested in this region, the settlement project was finally abandoned completely after the fall of Fort St Andrew in April 1700. Of the 2,500 settlers who once emigrated, only a few hundred saw their home again.

literature

  • The Scottish Colony of Darien, 1698-1700 . In: The Retrospective Review, Consisting of Criticisms Upon, Analyzes of, and Extracts from Curious, Valuable, and Scarce Old Books , edited by John Russell Smith. Vol. 1. London 1853, pp. 173-189.
  • Lara Held: The Darien disaster . In: ila , ISSN  0946-5057 , issue 372 (February 2014), pp. 55-56.
  • John Prebble: The Darien Disaster . Secker & Warburg, London 1968, ISBN 0436386062 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laura Held: The Darien disaster . In: ila, issue 372 (February 2014), p. 56.
  2. ^ The Scottish Colony of Darien, 1698-1700 . In: The Retrospective Review, Consisting of Criticisms Upon, Analyzes of, and Extracts from Curious, Valuable, and Scarce Old Books , edited by John Russell Smith. Vol. 1. London 1853, pp. 173-189, here p. 182.

Coordinates: 8 ° 50 ′  N , 77 ° 38 ′  W