字幕列表 影片播放
-
Back in the 1690s there were only two countries on the island of Great Britain: The Kingdom
-
of Scotland and the Kingdom of England.
-
England and the other great european powers were doing rather well for themselves by expanding
-
their empires through the cunning use of flags.
-
Scotland had no empire but wanted to join in the game, and thus needed to establish
-
a colony of her very own.
-
But where to build it?
-
"Panama!" declared Scotland.
-
She imagined the colony's strategic location would make trade with the far east safer and
-
faster by eliminating the long journey around the hazardous Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn
-
where both wind and wave delight in smashing ships against rock and ice.
-
"Who will lend me money to make this great idea a reality?" asked Scotland.
-
No one, was the answer.
-
Instead of helping, the european empires started trade wars with Scotland to limit the power
-
of their future rival.
-
So, poor Scotland had to fund the project herself. She gathered up all the money she
-
could, literally put it all in a big box and, capital thusly raised, sent off a colonial
-
ship.
-
400,000 pounds, 8,000 kilometers and 111 days later, 2,500 Scotsmen landed on the shores
-
of Panama, named it 'New Caledonia' and immediately discovered a few small problems with their
-
plan:
-
First, the mountains on the western side of Panama were a wee bit larger than expected,
-
making overland trade pretty much impossible. Even if they had thought of building a canal,
-
the technology to do so was still 200 years away.
-
Second, The woolen goods brought to trade with the locals was useless in the endless
-
heat and humidity.
-
Third, the Spanish Conquistadors had already planted flags on the sandy beaches and weren't
-
too happy to see the scots arrive.
-
And fourth, without adequate supplies, disease such as the perennial tropical favorite, Dysentery,
-
spread quickly.
-
Two years and 2,000 dead scots later, they abandoned the project.
-
Now, this wasn't the first failed attempt at Scottish empire -- early colonies had been
-
tried and abandoned in Nova Scotia, New Jersey and Carolina, but the Panama debacle was particularly
-
devastating to Scotland because she was over-invested.
-
Remember that money-in-a-box? Turns out it was a fifth of the wealth of the whole country.
-
Oops.
-
Scotland's sudden impoverishment proved a golden opportunity for The Kingdom of England
-
who was growing increasingly worried that her neighbor to the North would ally with
-
an enemy.
-
England offered Scotland a deal that would reimburse Scotland for her losses if she voted
-
for union. In 1707 Scotland agreed and the Kingdom of Great Britain was born.
-
While the surrender of independence was unpopular in Scotland, her economy improved with access
-
to once English (now British) trade routes and she played a formative role in what would
-
soon be the largest empire in human history.
-
That being said, still more than 300 years later, Scotland has never fully given up her
-
national identity and thoughts of independence.
