This map sucks.

It can only tell you about which colonies survived & thrived. I’m more interested in the ones that failed.

Let’s learn about a few of them ⬇️

First up in our European Colonial Esoterica is the Latvian colony of Tobago in the West Indies. The Duchy of Courland, interested in the trade opportunity offered in the New World sent 212 settlers to the island in 1637.

Under constant threat by the much more powerful Spanish & neighboring Dutch colonies, “New Courland” was finally taken by the Dutch in 1666. Under threat by Russia & Sweden at home, the Latvians finally ceded their claims in 1689, ending their dreams of American colonization.

Another notable failure were those of Scotland. First attempted in 1629 in Nova Scotia and later in Cape Breton & Carolina, all settlements were destroyed in their infancy due to French & Spanish attacks. Perhaps the most infamous Scottish venture was in the Darrien Gap.

In 1695 a Scottish venture was launched to start a colony in Panama. Given exclusive trade rights with Africa & Asia the company raised £400k (perhaps half of Scotland’s liquid wealth) & collected 2,500 settlers. The colony soon ran into problems.

A famine in Scotland prevented provisioning. Poor planning, starvation, & disease soon winnowed the colonists. In 1699 500 Spanish soldiers attacked the colony and wiped it out.

Some believe this disaster & it’s effects on Scotland’s economy helped encourage the Act of Union in 1707 with England, who promised financial aid in return. Curiously one minor Scottish colony survived in East New Jersey, merging with the English in 1702.

One of the more famous failures was that of the Kingdom of Sweden, a major European power in the 17th century. Sweden, wishing to bypass the Dutch, French, & English & create a colony to supply furs & tobacco built Fort Christina (Wilmington, Delaware) in 1638.

The colony thrived on the Delaware River until conquered by the stringer Dutch in 1655. However, the Swedes controlled the Caribbean colony of Saint Barthélemy from 1784-1878 when it was sold back to France.

One of the more shocking attempts was that of crusaders to establish an American colony! The Knights Hospitaller,
thanks to their relationship with the French government, purchased the colonies of the Caribbean islands St. Christopher, St. Martin, St. Barthélemy, & St. Croix.

The Crusader colony was short-lived. Tensions with the French government & financial issues convinced the Knights to sell the colony to the French West India Company after 14 years. (1651-1665)

The most significant German colonial effort was that of Klein-Venedig, “Little Venice,” in modern Venezuela. Under nominal control of the Holy Roman Empire, the colonist arrived in 1629 with 4,000 African slaves to work sugar plantations.

Much attention was diverted in search of El Dorado & German miners were brought to the colony to help search. Emperor Charles V, frustrated by the leadership’s neglect of the colony in their search for the City of Gold, ceded control to the Spanish province of Venezuela in 1546.

Another famous colonial attempt was that of Prussia. Wishing to take advantage of the slave trade originating in its African trading ports the Prussians leased part of the island of St. Thomas from its Danish owners in 1685.

In 1693 the Danes retook the Prussian part of the island forcefully, they met no resistance. During Prussian rule some of the largest slave auctions in the world were held on their part of the island.

The last failed colonial venture is the only Italian attempt. Which is surprising considering how many explorers were Italians, even more surprising is that it was led by an Englishman; Robert Thornton.

Thornton was hired by Fernando I of Tuscany to explore N. Brazil for a suitable site for establishing a colony to export wood. Thornton sailed in 1608 and returned with 6 Natives & described a fertile land rich with rosewood, sugar, pepper, balsam, cotton, silver, & gold.

However, Fernando had died and his successor Cosimo II was not interested in further American ventures. Thornton had collected settlers and was ready to depart in the summer of 1609 but his expedition was scraped.

As interesting & consequential as the European conquest of the Americas is, it is fascinating to think how differently things could have been had these ventures succeeded and others failed. What do you think? Do you know of any other failed colonies?

@rattibha unroll