Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 4 of 24 · 23 min
Pirates and the Scottish Fiasco: How Panama Broke a Kingdom
Twice in thirty years Panama broke those who reached for it. In 1671 the buccaneer Henry Morgan crossed the jungle and burned Panamá Viejo. In 1698-1700 Scotland staked a large share of its wealth on a Darién colony where about two thousand died, a failure that helped push Scotland toward the 1707 Act of Union.
Who's who
- Henry MorganWelsh privateer who sacked Panamá Viejo in 1671, later knighted
- Juan Pérez de GuzmánSpanish governor who lost Panama City in 1671
- William PatersonScottish financier behind the Darién Scheme
- William IIIKing of England and Scotland who withheld support for Darién
Where it happens
- Panamá Viejo, PanamaOriginal Pacific capital, burned in 1671
- Casco Viejo, Panama+1 more episodeFortified replacement city founded in 1673
- Mata Asnillos, PanamaSavanna where the 1671 battle was fought
- Darién, Panama+1 more episodeSite of Scotland's New Caledonia colony
- Portobelo, Panama+1 more episodeSilver fair town captured by Admiral Vernon in 1739
Timeline
- July 1670Treaty of Madrid signed by Spain and England
- January 28, 1671Battle of Mata Asnillos; Panamá Viejo falls and burns
- 1673Spanish refound the capital as Casco Viejo
- November 1698About 1,200 Scottish settlers found New Caledonia
- 1699-1700Disease and Spanish pressure force abandonment; roughly 2,000 die
- 1707Act of Union dissolves Scotland's parliament and creates Great Britain
Still debated
Historians disagree on who burned Panamá Viejo, Morgan's men or the Spanish governor, and on whether Morgan knew of the Treaty of Madrid. Darién was a major catalyst for the Union but not its sole cause, and estimates of the share of Scottish capital invested range from 20 to 40 percent.