colony · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

New Caledonia (Darien)

1698 CE – 1700 CE · capital New Edinburgh

Scotland's disastrous attempt to found a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama, whose failure helped push Scotland into union with England in 1707.

Origins

The Company of Scotland, promoted by William Paterson and backed by perhaps a fifth of Scotland's liquid capital, aimed to build an entrepôt linking the Atlantic and Pacific. About 1,200 colonists sailed from Leith in July 1698 and landed at Darien in November, founding Fort St Andrew and the town of New Edinburgh.

Rule and society

The colony was run by a council of quarrelling members, with no clear leader. Settlers found the soil poor, the trade goods unsuited to local markets and the climate deadly; fever killed hundreds. William III, wary of offending Spain, forbade English colonies to supply them. Relations with the local Guna people were friendly, but Spain regarded the colony as an intrusion.

Decline and legacy

The first settlers abandoned Darien in June 1699. A second expedition arrived later that year, won a skirmish at Toubacanti, but capitulated to a Spanish siege at the end of March 1700 and left in April. The loss of capital weakened Scottish resistance to union, and the 1707 Act of Union included compensation for the company's investors.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). New Caledonia (Darien). In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/new-caledonia-darien
MLA
“New Caledonia (Darien).” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/new-caledonia-darien. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “New Caledonia (Darien).” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/new-caledonia-darien.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘New Caledonia (Darien)’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/new-caledonia-darien (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻