ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Baconian Buccaneering: William Dampier's Excursions to Panama, 1679-1685

• In Event: Scientific Expeditions and the Co-Production of Knowledge

English Abstract

William Dampier (b. 1651 – d. 1715) held many titles during his prolific career as a sea rover: buccaneer, explorer, naturalist. In the 1680s, Dampier joined a crew to raid the Isthmus of Panama and find a way to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean). While this was primarily a military mission and a chance to strike it rich by stealing Spanish treasure, Dampier also saw it as an opportunity to record what he observed about Panama’s flora, fauna, and landscapes. Following a Baconian model of knowledge acquisition, Dampier sought practical information that could be used to advance English imperialism. Buccaneers extracted information about local plants, especially when it came to healing practices when Englishmen were wounded on campaigns. In his writings that he presented to the Royal Society of London, Dampier presented a region rich with natural resources and wealth that could be easily exploited if England decided to establish a colony in the Isthmus of Panama. Additionally, the region’s Indigenous people, the Cuna, could also prove willing allies against the Spaniards. The Cuna were essential to any hopes of English colonialism as they were skilled warriors, guides, and foragers. Their knowledge of the local environment meant they could share information with the English on how to exploit Panama’s natural resources. Indigenous knowledge production, in short, was highly valued by Dampier for his imperial vision. Consequently, 1680s Panama is an excellent case study to examine intercultural relations between Englishmen and Indigenous people, as well as the intersection between militarism, imperialism, and nature.

Author

• Joseph Bienko, The Pennsylvania State University