William Paterson’s Vision of a Lucrative Colony at Darien
William Paterson was born in Dumfries and Galloway in the south-east of Scotland, in 1648. An enterprising trader, he was to have a profound influence on the social development of Scotland, and indeed Britain, for two primary reasons. Firstly, he founded the Bank of England in 1694. Secondly, he was the driving force behind Scotland’s attempt to establish an overseas colony: a ruinous undertaking that was to lead to Scotland seeking political unification with England, creating the Kingdom of Britain in 1707.
Paterson pinpointed a strip of land, called Darien, in central America (occupying part of the modern day Republic of Panama). Anticipating the Panama Canal by over two centuries he saw this territory as key to anchoring trans-continental trade. By establishing a foothold on this narrow isthmus, a Scottish colony would control a lucrative trade route. Ships could unload cargo from Atlantic voyages, to be transported the short distance to Darien’s Pacific coast; and vice versa.
Paterson’s shortcut would pre-empt the treacherous sailing around the mountainous Southern Ocean at Cape Horn. It would increase the frequency of trade. It would make investors fabulously rich. Paterson described Darien as “The door of the seas, the keys of the universe”.
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