“To Erect a Collonie of Scottish Subjects in Aney Pairt of America”: The Quest for a Scottish Colony in North America in the 1680s

Abstract

In the 1680s Scots attempted to found new settlements within the colonies of Carolina and East Jersey. Though these efforts failed, they are important. The efforts of the 1680s were challenged by the fact that king Charles II of England and Scotland refused to grant new proprieties. Undaunted, Scots devised plans to establish autonomous settlements within Carolina and East Jersey, hoping to swamp the proprieties with new settlers and to sustain effective sovereignty of the settlements. To gain effective sovereignty, Scots tried to establish geographic exclusivity, economic viability, constitutional security, and some measure of political power. On the ground in East Jersey and Carolina, Scots tried to effect their plans.