Acts of Union 1707

Acts of Parliament creating the Kingdom of Great Britain

Not to be confused with Union of the Crowns.

"Union of England and Scotland" redirects here; not to be confused with Union of England and Scotland Act 1603 or Treaty of Union.

For other uses, see Act of Union (disambiguation).

United Kingdom legislation

Union with Scotland Act 1706[a]Act of Parliament

Parliament of England

Long title| An Act for a Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland.
Citation| 6 Ann. c. 11
(Ruffhead: 5 Ann. c. 8)
Territorial extent | Kingdom of England
Dates
Royal assent| 6 March 1707[b]
Commencement| 1 May 1707[c]
Other legislation
Amended by|

* Statute Law Revision Act 1867
* Promissory Oaths Act 1871
* Weights and Measures Act 1878
* Statute Law Revision Act 1948
* Peerage Act 1963
* Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1973
* Scotland Act 1998

Relates to| Exchequer Court (Scotland) Act 1707

Status: Amended

Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Union with Scotland Act 1706 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

United Kingdom legislation

Union with England Act 1707[d]Act of Parliament

Parliament of Scotland

Long title| Act Ratifying and Approving the Treaty of Union of the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England.
Citation| 1707 c. 7
Territorial extent | Kingdom of Scotland
Dates
Royal assent| 16 January 1707
Commencement| 1 May 1707
Other legislation
Amended by|

* Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1906
* Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964
* Criminal Justice Act 1948
* Peerage Act 1963
* Scotland Act 1998

Status: Current legislation

Text of the Union with England Act 1707 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
Constitutional documents and events relevant to the status of the United Kingdom and its countries

List per year

| Treaty of Union| 1706

|

Acts of Union| 1707
Succession to the Crown Act 1707| 1707
Septennial Act| 1716
Wales and Berwick Act| 1746
Constitution of Ireland (1782)| 1782
Acts of Union 1800| 1800
HC (Disqualifications) Act 1801| 1801
Reform Act 1832| 1832
Scottish Reform Act 1832| 1832
Irish Reform Act 1832| 1832
Judicial Committee Act 1833| 1833
Judicial Committee Act 1843| 1843
Judicial Committee Act 1844| 1844
Representation of the People Act 1867| 1867
Reform Act (Scotland) 1868| 1868
Reform Act (Ireland) 1868| 1868
Irish Church Act| 1869
Royal Titles Act 1876| 1876
Appellate Jurisdiction Act| 1876
Reform Act 1884| 1884
Interpretation Act 1889| 1889
Parliament Act| 1911
Aliens Restriction Act| 1914
Status of Aliens Act 1914| 1914
Government of Ireland Act 1914| 1914
Welsh Church Act| 1914
Royal Proclamation of 1917| 1917
Representation of the People Act 1918| 1918
Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act| 1919
Government of Ireland Act| 1920
Anglo-Irish Treaty| 1921
Church of Scotland Act 1921| 1921
Irish Free State (Agreement) Act| 1922
Irish Free State Constitution Act| 1922
Ireland (Confirm. of Agreement) Act 1925| 1925
Balfour Declaration of 1926| 1926
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act| 1927
Representation of the People Act 1928| 1928
Eire (Confirmation of Agreement) Act 1929| 1929
Statute of Westminster| 1931
HM Declaration of Abdication Act 1936| 1936
Regency Act 1937| 1937
Regency Act 1943| 1943
British Nationality Act 1948| 1948
Representation of the People Act 1948| 1948
Ireland Act 1949| 1949
Statute of the Council of Europe| 1949
Parliament Act 1949| 1949
Regency Act 1953| 1953
Royal Titles Act 1953| 1953
European Convention on Human Rights| 1953
Interpretation Act (NI)| 1954
HC Disqualification Act 1957| 1957
Life Peerages Act| 1958
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962| 1962
Peerage Act| 1963
Royal Assent Act| 1967
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968| 1968
Immigration Act| 1971
EC Treaty of Accession| 1972
NI (Temporary Provisions) Act| 1972
European Communities Act| 1972
Local Government Act| 1972
UK joins the European Communities| 1973
Local Government (Scotland) Act| 1973
NI border poll| 1973
NI Constitution Act| 1973
House of Commons Disqualification Act| 1975
Referendum Act| 1975
EC membership referendum| 1975
HC (Administration) Act|  1978
Interpretation Act| 1978
Scotland Act 1978| 1978
Wales Act 1978| 1978
Scottish devolution referendum| 1979
Welsh devolution referendum| 1979
British Nationality Act| 1981
Representation of the People Act 1983| 1983
Representation of the People Act 1985| 1985
Single European Act| 1985
Maastricht Treaty| 1993
Local Government (Wales) Act| 1994
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act| 1994
Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act| 1997
Scottish devolution referendum| 1997
Welsh devolution referendum| 1997
1998 GLA referendum|  1998
Bank of England Act| 1998
Good Friday Agreement|  1998
Northern Ireland Act|  1998
Government of Wales Act|  1998
Human Rights Act| 1998
Scotland Act|  1998
GLA Act| 1999
House of Lords Act| 1999
Representation of the People Act 2000| 2000
Parties, Elections and Referendums Act| 2000
Justice (Northern Ireland) Act| 2002
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act|  2004
Constitutional Reform Act| 2005
Government of Wales Act 2006| 2006
GLA Act 2007| 2007
Northern Ireland Act 2009| 2009
LDEDC Act|  2009
Lisbon Treaty| 2009
Constitutional Reform and Governance Act| 2010
Parl. Voting System and Constituencies Act| 2011
Welsh devolution referendum| 2011
Alternative Vote referendum| 2011
European Union Act 2011| 2011
Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act|  2011
Sovereign Grant Act|  2011
Fixed-term Parliaments Act| 2011
Localism Act|  2011
Scotland Act 2012| 2012
Succession to the Crown Act 2013| 2013
Scottish independence referendum| 2014
House of Lords Reform Act| 2014
Wales Act 2014| 2014
HL (Expulsion and Suspension) Act| 2015
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act| 2015
Recall of MPs Act| 2015
European Union Referendum Act| 2015
Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act| 2015
EU membership referendum| 2016
Scotland Act 2016| 2016
Cities and Local Government Devolution Act|  2016
Wales Act 2017| 2017
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act| 2017
Invocation of Article 50| 2017
European Union (Withdrawal) Act| 2018
EU Withdrawal Act 2019| 2019
EU Withdrawal (No. 2) Act| 2019
Early Parliamentary General Election Act| 2019
EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act| 2020
UK leaves the European Union| 2020
UK Internal Market Act| 2020
EU (Future Relationship) Act| 2020
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act| 2022
Judicial Review and Courts Act| 2022
Elections Act| 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act|  2023

* v
* t
* e

The Acts of Union[e] refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which politically joined the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single "political state" named Great Britain, with Queen Anne as its sovereign. The English and Scottish acts of ratification took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the new kingdom, with its parliament based in the Palace of Westminster.

The two countries had shared a monarch since the "personal" Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his cousin Elizabeth I to become (in addition) 'James I of England', styled James VI and I. Attempts had been made to try to unite the two separate countries, in 1606, 1667, and in 1689 (following the 1688 Dutch invasion of England, and subsequent deposition of James II of England by his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange), but it was not until the early 18th century that both nations via separate groups of English and Scots Royal Commissioners and their respective political establishments, came to support the idea of an international "Treaty of political, monetary and trade Union", albeit for different reasons.

## Political background

[edit]

Prior to 1603, England and Scotland had different monarchs, but when Elizabeth I died without children, she was succeeded as King of England by her distant relative, James VI of Scotland. After her death, the two Crowns were held in personal union by James (reigning as James VI and I), who announced his intention to unite the two realms.[2]

The 1603 Union of England and Scotland Act established a joint Commission to agree terms, but the Parliament of England was concerned this would lead to an absolutist structure similar to that of Scotland. James was forced to withdraw his proposals, but used the royal prerogative to take the title "King of Great Britain".[3][4]

Attempts to revive the project of union in 1610 were met with hostility.[5] English opponents such as Sir Edwin Sandys argued that changing the name of England "were as yf  [sic] to make a conquest of our name, which was more than ever the Dane or Norman could do".[6] Instead, James set about creating a unified Church of Scotland and England, as the first step towards a centralised, Unionist state.[7]

However, despite both being nominally Episcopal in structure, the two were very different in doctrine; the Church of Scotland, or kirk, was Calvinist in doctrine, and viewed many Church of England practices as little better than Catholicism.[8] As a result, attempts to impose religious policy by James and his son Charles I ultimately led to the 1639–1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The 1639–1640 Bishops' Wars confirmed the primacy of the Scots kirk, and established a Covenanter government in Scotland. The Scots remained neutral when the First English Civil War began in 1642, before becoming concerned at the impact on Scotland of an English Royalist victory.[9] Presbyterian leaders like Argyll viewed union as a way to ensure free trade between England and Scotland, and preserve a Scots Presbyterian kirk.[10]

Under the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant, the Scots Parliament agreed to provide military support to its English counterpart in return for a united Presbyterian church, but did not explicitly commit to political union. As the war progressed, Scots and English Presbyterians increasingly viewed the English Independents, and associated radical groups like the Levellers, as a bigger threat than the Royalists. Both Royalists and Presbyterians agreed monarchy was divinely ordered, but disagreed on the nature and extent of Royal authority over the church. When Charles I surrendered in 1646, an English pro-Royalist faction known as the Engagers allied with their former enemies to restore him to the English throne.[11]

Cromwell at Dunbar by Andrew Carrick Gow. Scotland was incorporated into the Commonwealth after defeat in the 1650–1652 Anglo-Scots War.

After defeat in the 1647–1648 Second English Civil War, Scotland was occupied by English troops, which were withdrawn once those whom Cromwell held responsible had been replaced by the Kirk Party. In December 1648, Pride's Purge paved the way for the Trial of Charles I in England by excluding MPs who opposed it. Following the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England, the Scots Kirk Party proclaimed Charles II King of Scots and England and, in the 1650 Treaty of Breda, resolved to restore him to the English throne. Instead, defeat in the Anglo-Scottish War resulted in Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth in 1653, largely driven by Cromwell's determination to break the power of the Scots kirk.[12] The 1652 Tender of Union was followed on 12 April 1654 by An Ordinance by the Protector for the Union of England and Scotland, creating the Commonwealth of England and Scotland.[13] It was ratified by the Second Protectorate Parliament on 26 June 1657, creating a single Parliament in Westminster, with 30 representatives each from Scotland and Ireland added to the existing English members.[14]

### 1660–1707

[edit]

While integration into the Commonwealth established free trade between Scotland and England, the economic benefits were diminished by the costs of military occupation.[15] Both Scotland and England associated union with heavy taxes and military rule; it had little popular support in either Country, and the union was dissolved after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.

The Scottish economy was badly damaged by the (protectionist) English Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663 and England's wars with the Dutch Republic, Scotland's major export market. An Anglo-Scots Trade Commission was set up in January 1668 but the English had no interest in making concessions, as the Scots had little to offer in return. In 1669, Charles II revived talks on "political union"; his motives may have been to weaken Scotland's commercial and political links with the Dutch, still seen as an enemy and complete the work of his grandfather James I and VI.[16] On the Scottish side, the proposed union received parliamentary support, boosted by the desire to ensure free trade. Continued opposition meant these negotiations were abandoned by the end of 1669.[17][18]

Following the 1688 invasion of England by a Dutch fleet and army led by Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary (daughter of James II), and their deposition of James II as King of England, a Scottish Convention of the Estates (a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland) met in Edinburgh in April 1689 to agree a new Constitutional settlement for Scotland. The Convention of the Estates issued an address to William and Mary "as both kingdomes are united in one head and soveraigne so they may become one body pollitick, one nation to be represented in one parliament", reserving "our church government, as it shall be established at the tyme of the union".[19] William and Mary were supportive of the idea but it was opposed both by the Presbyterian majority in Scotland and the English Parliament.[20] Episcopacy in Scotland was abolished in 1690, alienating a significant part of the political class; it was this element that later formed the bedrock of opposition to Union.[21]

The 1690s were a time of economic hardship in Europe as a whole and Scotland in particular, a period now known as the Seven ill years which led to strained relations with England.[22] In 1698, the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies received a charter to raise capital through public subscription.[23] The Company invested in the Darién scheme, an ambitious plan funded almost entirely by Scottish investors to build a colony on the Isthmus of Panama for trade with East Asia.[24] The scheme was a disaster; the losses of over £150,000[f] severely impacted the Scottish commercial system.[26]

## Political motivations

[edit]

The International Treaty, and English and Scots acts of ratification of Union may be seen within a wider European context of increasing state centralisation during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, including the monarchies of France, Sweden, Denmark-Norway and Spain. While there were exceptions, such as the Dutch Republic or the Republic of Venice, the trend was clear.[27]

The dangers of the monarch using one parliament against the other first became apparent in 1647 and 1651. It resurfaced during the 1679 to 1681 Exclusion Crisis, caused by English resistance to the Catholic James II (of England, VII of Scots) succeeding his brother Charles II. James was sent to Edinburgh in 1681 as Lord High Commissioner; in August, the Parliament of Scotland passed the Succession Act, confirming the divine right of kings, the rights of the natural heir "regardless of religion", the duty of all to swear allegiance to that king, and the Independence of the Scots Crown. It then went beyond ensuring James's succession to the Scots throne by explicitly stating the aim was to make his exclusion from the English throne impossible without "the fatall and dreadfull consequences of a civil war".[28]

The issue reappeared during the 1688 Dutch invasion and coup d'etat (subsequently entitled as "the Glorious Revolution"). The English Convention Parliament generally supported replacing King James II with his Protestant daughter Mary, holding to their "legal fiction" that James, by fleeing to France, had abandoned his English subjects and "abdicated". They resisted, however, making her Dutch husband William of Orange joint ruler. They gave way "fearing the return of James" only when William threatened to take his troops and fleet and return to the Netherlands, and Mary refused to rule without him.[29]

In Scotland, it became a Constitutional issue. The fact that James VII of Scots had not been present in the Scotland meant that the question of abdication need not arise. On 4 April 1689 a Convention of the Three Estates of Scotland (sister body to the Parliament of Scotland) declared that James VII "had acted irregularly" by assuming regal power (government) "without ever taking the Coronation Oath required by Scots Law". Thus, he had "FOREFALTED [forfeited] the Right to the Scots Crown, and the Scots Throne is become vacant". This was a fundamental difference; if the Parliament of Scotland could decide James VII had "Forfaulted" his Scots throne by actions having, in the words of the "Claim of Right" act 1689 "Invaded the fundamentall Constitution of the Kingdome and altered it from a legall limited monarchy To ane arbitrary despotick power". "Scots monarchs derived legitimacy from the Convention of the Estates", later declared a Parliament of Scotland, not God,[citation needed] thus ending the principle of divine right of kings.[citation needed]

Enshrined in the Union with England Act 1707:

> The haill other acts of parliament relating thereto in prosecution of the Declaration of the Estates of this kingdom containing the "Claim of Right" bearing date the eleventh of aprile one thousand six hundred and eighty nine.

Conflict over control of the kirk between Presbyterians and Episcopalians and William's position as a fellow Calvinist put him in a much stronger position. He originally insisted on retaining Episcopacy, and the Committee of the Articles, an unelected body that controlled what legislation Parliament could debate. Both would have given the Crown far greater control than in England but he withdrew his demands due to the 1689–1692 Jacobite Rising.[30]

William's attempts to have the Claim of Right amended were directed through the "Court faction" which began arguing from 1699 onwards that:

1. The Convention of the Estates was not a parliament so the act did not really count as binding and
2. the Convention of the Estates was a parliament and so parliament could just rewrite it.

A year and a half after William's death, the Parliament of Scotland "put a period on the end of that sentence" by passing an act which recognised the standing of the Convention of the Estates as a parliament in its own right and made it "high treason" to impugn its authority or to so much as suggest attempting to alter the Claim of Right.

Here is the Claim of Right understood and upheld for its secular constitutional provisions quite as much as for its religious provisions.

> Our sovereign lady, with advice and consent of the estates of parliament, ratites, approves and perpetually confirms the first act of King William and Queen Mary's parliament, dated 5 June 1689, entitled act declaring the meeting of the estates to be a parliament, and of new enacts and declares that the three estates then met together the said 5 June 1689, consisting of noblemen, barons and burghs, were a lawful and free parliament, and it is declared that it shall be "high treason" for any person to disown, quarrel or impugn the dignity and authority of the said Parliament. And further, the queen's majesty, with consent foresaid, statutes and declares that it shall be 'high treason' in any of the subjects of this kingdom to quarrel, impugn or endeavour by writing, malicious and advised speaking, or other open act or deed, to alter or innovate the Claim of Right or any article thereof.

### English perspective

[edit]

Queen Anne in 1702

The English succession was provided for by the English Act of Settlement 1701, which ensured that the monarch of England would be a Protestant member of the House of Hanover. Until the union of parliaments, the Scottish throne might be inherited by a different successor after Queen Anne, who had said in her first speech to the English parliament that a union was "very necessary".[31] The Scottish Act of Security 1704, however, was passed after the English parliament, without consultation with Scotland, had designated Electoress Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James I and VI) as Anne's successor, if Anne died childless. The Act of Security granted the Parliament of Scotland, the three Estates,[31] the right to choose a successor and explicitly required a choice different from the English monarch unless the English were to grant free trade and navigation. Then the Alien Act 1705 was passed in the English parliament, designating Scots in England as "foreign nationals" and blocking about half of all Scottish trade by boycotting exports to England or its colonies, unless Scotland came back to negotiate a Union.[31] To encourage a union, "honours, appointments, pensions and even arrears of pay and other expenses were distributed to clinch support from Scottish peers and MPs".[32]

### Scottish perspective

[edit]

The Scottish economy was severely impacted by privateers during the 1688–1697 Nine Years' War and the 1701 War of the Spanish Succession, with the Royal Navy focusing on protecting English ships. This compounded the economic pressure caused by the Darien scheme, and the seven ill years of the 1690s, when 5–15% of the population died of starvation.[33] The Scottish Parliament was promised financial assistance, protection for its maritime trade, and an end to economic restrictions on trade with England.[34]

The votes of the Court party, influenced by Queen Anne's favourite, James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, combined with the majority of the Squadrone Volante, were sufficient to ensure passage of the treaty.[31] Article 15 granted £398,085 and ten shillings sterling to Scotland,[g] a sum known as The Equivalent, to offset future liability towards the English national debt, which at the time was £18 million,[h] but as Scotland had no national debt,[31] most of the sum was used to compensate the investors in the Darien scheme, with 58.6% of the fund allocated to its shareholders and creditors.[35][page needed]

18th-century French illustration of an opening of the Scottish Parliament

The role played by bribery has long been debated. £20,000 was distributed by David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow,[i] of which 60% went to the Duke of Queensberry, the Queen's Commissioner in Parliament. Another negotiator, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll was given an English dukedom.[31]

Robert Burns is commonly quoted in support of the argument of corruption: "We're bought and sold for English Gold, Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation." As historian Christopher Whatley points out, this was actually a 17th-century Scots folk song; but he agrees money was paid, though suggests the economic benefits were supported by most Scots MPs, with the promises made for benefits to peers and MPs,[32] even if it was reluctantly.[36] Professor Sir Tom Devine agreed that promises of "favours, sinecures, pensions, offices and straightforward cash bribes became indispensable to secure government majorities".[37]

As for representation going forwards, Scotland was, in the new united parliament, only to get 45 MPs, one more than Cornwall, and only 16 (unelected) peers in the House of Lords.[31]

There were mixed opinions in Scotland about the prospect of a union with England. Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath, the only Scottish negotiator to oppose Union, noted "the whole nation appears against (it)". Another negotiator, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, who was an ardent Unionist, observed it was "contrary to the inclinations of at least three-fourths of the Kingdom".[38] As the seat of the Scottish Parliament, demonstrators in Edinburgh feared the impact of its loss on the local economy. Elsewhere, there was widespread concern about the independence of the kirk, and possible tax rises.[39][page needed] Virtually all of the print discourses of 1699–1706 spoke against incorporating union, creating the conditions for wide spread rejection of the treaty in 1706 and 1707.[40] In the wake of unionist proselytising in the autumn of 1706 and early 1707, many Scots were undecided about the prospect of a union.[41] Rather, there was considerably more support in Scotland for a federal union with England than an incorporative one, similar to the devolved Scottish parliament that would be established within Britain nearly three centuries later.[42]

As the treaty passed through the Parliament of Scotland, opposition was voiced by petitions from shires, burghs, presbyteries and parishes. The Convention of Royal Burghs claimed:

> we are not against an honourable and safe union with England, [... but] the condition of the people of Scotland, (cannot be) improved without a Scots Parliament.[43]

According to Scottish historian William Ferguson, the Acts of Union were a "political job" by England that was achieved by economic incentives, patronage and bribery to secure the passage of the Union treaty in the Scottish Parliament in order satisfy English political imperatives, with the union being unacceptable to the Scottish people, including both the Jacobites and Covenanters. The differences between Scottish were "subsumed by the same sort of patriotism or nationalism that first appeared in the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320."[40] Ferguson highlights the well-timed payments of salary arrears to members of Parliament as proof of bribery and argues that the Scottish people had been betrayed by their Parliament.[40] According to Christopher Whatley, however, calls for a union with England began in Scotland itself in the 1690s for the purpose of safeguarding the law, line of succession, and to improve the economy.[44]

### Ireland

[edit]

Ireland, though a kingdom under the same crown, was not included in the union. It remained a separate kingdom, unrepresented in Parliament, and was legally subordinate to Great Britain until the Renunciation Act 1783.

In July 1707 each House of the Parliament of Ireland passed a congratulatory address to Queen Anne, praying that "May God put it in your royal heart to add greater strength and lustre to your crown, by a still more comprehensive Union".[45][46] The British government did not respond to the invitation and an equal union between Great Britain and Ireland was out of consideration until the 1790s. The union with Ireland finally came about on 1 January 1801.

## Treaty and passage of the 1707 acts

[edit]

"Articles of Union otherwise known as Treaty of Union", 1707

Deeper political integration had been a key policy of Queen Anne from the time she acceded to the throne in 1702. Under the aegis of the Queen and her ministers in both kingdoms, the parliaments of England and Scotland (the Act for a Treaty with England 1705) agreed to participate in fresh negotiations for a union treaty in 1705.

Both countries appointed 31 commissioners to conduct the negotiations. Most of the Scottish commissioners favoured union, and about half were government ministers and other officials. At the head of the list was the Duke of Queensberry, and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, the Earl of Seafield.[47] The English commissioners included the Lord High Treasurer, Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, William Cowper, Baron Cowper, and a large number of Whigs who supported union. Tories were not in favour of union and only one was represented among the commissioners.[47]

Negotiations between the English and Scottish commissioners took place between 16 April and 22 July 1706 at the Cockpit in London. Each side had its own particular concerns. Within a few days, and with only one face to face meeting of all 62 commissioners,[31] England had gained a guarantee that the Hanoverian dynasty would succeed Queen Anne to the Scottish crown, and Scotland received a guarantee of access to colonial markets, in the hope that they would be placed on an equal footing in terms of trade.[48]

After negotiations ended in July 1706, the acts had to be ratified by both Parliaments. In Scotland, about 100 of the 227 members of the Parliament of Scotland were supportive of the Court Party. For extra votes the pro-court side could rely on about 25 members of the Squadrone Volante, led by the James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose and John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe. Opponents of the court were generally known as the Country party, and included various factions and individuals such as the James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, John Hamilton, Lord Belhaven and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, who spoke forcefully and passionately against the union, when the Scottish Parliament began its debate on the act on 3 October 1706, but the deal had already been done.[31] The Court party enjoyed significant funding from England and the Treasury and included many who had accumulated debts following the Darien Disaster.[49]

The act ratifying the Treaty of Union was finally carried in the Parliament of Scotland by 110 votes to 69 on 16 January 1707, with a number of key amendments. News of the ratification and of the amendments was received in Westminster, where the Act was passed quickly through both Houses and received the royal assent on 6 March.[50] Though the English Act was later in date, it bore the year '1706' while Scotland's was '1707', as the legal year in England began only on 25 March.

In Scotland, the Duke of Queensberry was largely responsible for the successful passage of the Union act by the Parliament of Scotland. In Scotland, he was greeted by stones and eggs but in England he was cheered for his action.[51] He had personally received around half of the funding awarded by the Westminster Treasury.[citation needed] In April 1707, he travelled to London to attend celebrations at the royal court, and was greeted by groups of noblemen and gentry lined along the road. From Barnet, the route was lined with crowds of cheering people, and once he reached London a huge crowd had formed. On 17 April, the Duke was gratefully received by the Queen at Kensington Palace and the Acts came into effect on 1 May 1707.[51] A day of thanksgiving was declared in England and Ireland but not in Scotland, where the bells of St Giles rang out the tune of "why should I be so sad on my wedding day".[52]

## Provisions

[edit]

Main article: Treaty of Union

Heraldic badge of Queen Anne, depicting the Tudor rose and the Scottish thistle growing from the same stem

The Treaty of Union, agreed between representatives of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1706, consisted of 25 articles, 15 of which were economic in nature. In Scotland, each article was voted on separately and several clauses in articles were delegated to specialised subcommittees. Article 1 of the treaty was based on the political principle of an incorporating union and this was secured by a majority of 116 votes to 83 on 4 November 1706. To minimise the opposition of the Church of Scotland, an Act was also passed to secure the Presbyterian establishment of the Church, after which the Church stopped its open opposition, although hostility remained at lower levels of the clergy. The treaty as a whole was finally ratified on 16 January 1707 by a majority of 110 votes to 69.[53]

The two Acts incorporated provisions for Scotland to send representative peers from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords. It guaranteed that the Church of Scotland would remain the established church in Scotland, that the Court of Session would "remain in all time coming within Scotland", and that Scots law would "remain in the same force as before". Other provisions included the restatement of the Act of Settlement 1701 and the ban on Roman Catholics from taking the throne. It also created a customs union and monetary union.

The Act provided that any "laws and statutes" that were "contrary to or inconsistent with the terms" of the Act would "cease and become void".

### Related acts

[edit]

The Scottish Parliament also passed the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707 guaranteeing the status of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The English Parliament passed a similar Act, 6 Ann. c. 8.

Soon after the Union, the Act 6 Ann. c. 40—later named the Union with Scotland (Amendment) Act 1707—united the Privy Council of England and Privy Council of Scotland and decentralised Scottish administration by appointing justices of the peace in each shire to carry out administration. In effect it took the day-to-day government of Scotland out of the hands of politicians and into those of the College of Justice.

On 18 December 1707 the Act for better Securing the Duties of East India Goods was passed which extended the monopoly of the East India Company to Scotland.

In the year following the Union, the Treason Act 1708 abolished the Scottish law of treason and extended the corresponding English law across Great Britain.

## Evaluations

[edit]

Scotland benefited, says historian G.N. Clark, gaining "freedom of trade with England and the colonies" as well as "a great expansion of markets". The agreement guaranteed the permanent status of the Presbyterian church in Scotland, and the separate system of laws and courts in Scotland. Clark argued that in exchange for the financial benefits and bribes that England bestowed, what it gained was

> of inestimable value. Scotland accepted the Hanoverian succession and gave up her power of threatening England's military security and complicating her commercial relations ... The sweeping successes of the eighteenth-century wars owed much to the new unity of the two nations.[54]

Despite initial opposition to the union by many Scots, there was paradoxically more protests from Scots in the eighteenth century over what they believed was the union being disregarded by the Westminster parliament, with Lord Deskford commenting to the Duke of Newcastle in 1755 on the "anxiety" among Scots about "any thing they conceive to be contrary to the union."[55] By the time Samuel Johnson and James Boswell made their tour in 1773, recorded in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, Johnson noted that Scotland was "a nation of which the commerce is hourly extending, and the wealth increasing" and in particular that Glasgow had become one of the greatest cities of Britain.[56]

## Economic perspective

[edit]

Portrait of John Smith by Godfrey Kneller, 1708. Smith was one of the commissioners who negotiated the union and was Speaker of the House of Commons in the new united parliament. He is shown by Kneller holding a copy of the Act of Union.

According to the Scottish historian Christopher Smout, prior to the Union of the Crowns the Scottish economy had been flourishing completely independently of the English one, and that it only took a downturn in the wake of English wars, and what was believed to be English sabotage on Scottish economic ambitions.[57] In the years leading to 1707, however, the Scottish economy was lagging behind not only from the impact of wars, but also because of chronic deflation and industrial underdevelopment. Scotland remained a predominantly agrarian society, and the lack of manpower caused by previous conflicts contributed to an underwhelming agricultural output, which intermittently escalated into local food shortages or famines. The Scottish Parliament attempted to combat the issue by attracting foreign investment; duty on ship building materials was lifted, taxes on new manufacturing stocks were cut, and customs on textile and linen goods were removed.[58]

Scotland grew increasingly dependent on its linen industry, which became the biggest source of employment after agriculture and constituted one-third of Scottish industry. Continental linen industries could outcompete Scotland, and protectionist tariffs implemented by Scotland led to tariff wars as European countries closed their markets to Scotland. In this situation, England became the largest foreign market for Scottish linen; however, while the tariffs in place shielded Scotland from the much larger English industry, England also retaliated against them. This forced Scotland to seek economic alternatives.[58] At the time, trade with colonies was rapidly growing in importance in Europe, and trade with colonies was very attractive to Scotland, given its pastoral economy. American colonies had a high demand of agricultural goods such as leather skins of goats and sheep, which would have provided Scotland a valuable source of income. Search for colonial trade, along with the frustration caused by economic and political rivalry with England, led to the Darien scheme – an unsuccessful attempt to establish a Scottish colony in the Gulf of Darién.[59]

The scheme was sabotaged by England in various ways – it was seen as a threat to the privileged position of the East India Company, prompting England to ensure the plan's failure via political and diplomatic overtures to prevent the Netherlands and Hamburg from investing into the scheme and denying assistance.[60] In what was dubbed the "affair of Hamburgh" in Scotland, William III of England persuaded European powers against buying stocks in the scheme; William commented on Darien:

> I have been ill-served in Scotland; but I hope some remedies may be found to prevent the inconveniences which may arise from this Act.[61]

English actions against the Darien scheme were also motivated by other factors – the decline in the East India Company's stock values, concerns of Darien causing a labour shortage in the Colony of Jamaica, and the scheme being seen as a threat to "the general peace of Christendom", as Catholic Spain laid a territorial claim to the area.[58]

The failure of the Darien scheme led to a financial crisis in Scotland. The high cost of its project exacerbated the deflation in Scotland.[58] The Bank of Scotland had dangerously low reserves, and in early 1700s a run on the bank occurred, along with temporary suspension of business. Ultimately, the Scottish bank managed to stay solvent, although the persisting deflation and low reserves largely contributed to the feeling of Scottish economy being in a precarious position. Economist Aida Ramos argues that the Darien scheme could have succeeded if it was to receive support from either England or Spain, and that it lacked the capability to create a threat to England or its interests. According to Ramos, the English intervention against the scheme was to meet the expansionary aims of England, as to ensure both its colonial dominance as well as the annexation of Scotland.[60]

By 1703, much of the public along with members of the Scottish government were highly disillusioned with the union, and many believed that the only way to let the Scottish economy flourish was to separate from England. John Clerk of Eldin declared that "the Scots had become England's slaves, since they were denied not only their rights as fellow-Britons but their rights under the Law of Nations", and writer David Black wrote: "England affords us but little of what is necessary, yet they drain us more than any nation". The Scottish Parliament started adopting legislation to counter the English aggression – the first was the Act Anent Peace and War, which was to guarantee that the Scottish foreign policy would be independent of England.[60] The Scottish economy was now facing a crisis, and the parliament was polarised into pro-union and anti-union factions, each arguing for economic upsides.[57]

Ultimately, Scottish ministers voted in favour of the union, despite the lack of public support, with the overwhelming majority of the Scottish population at the time protesting vociferously against any union with England.[40] Many Scots considered themselves to have been betrayed by their own elites, and that the union bill was able to pass only thanks to English bribery.[62] In the first few decades after the union, England did not end up becoming the main trading partner of Scotland, as other European powers became the primary source of imported goods for Scotland. For at least the first 40 years after the union, Scotland persisted in its traditional trade patterns, and the economic situation of Scotland was not as dire as that described in the months leading up to the Acts of Union.[59] By 1799, it was reported that the union of Scotland with England had not only benefitted the Scottish economy, but promoted a "commercial prosperity" unknown to any people.[63]

## 300th anniversary

[edit]

The £2 coin issued in the United Kingdom in 2007 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Acts of Union

A commemorative two-pound coin was issued to mark the tercentennial—300th anniversary—of the Union, which occurred two days before the Scottish Parliament general election on 3 May 2007.[64]

The Scottish Government held a number of commemorative events through the year including an education project led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, an exhibition of Union-related objects and documents at the National Museums of Scotland and an exhibition of portraits of people associated with the Union at the National Galleries of Scotland.[65]

## Scottish voting records

[edit]

Map of commissioner voting on the ratification of the Treaty of Union:

All (or sole) Commissioners absent

All Commissioners present voting for Union

Majority of Commissioners present voting for Union

Equal number of Commissioners voting for and against

Majority of Commissioners present voting against Union

All Commissioners present voting against Union

Voting records for 16 January 1707 ratification of the Treaty of Union  Commissioner  | Constituency/Position  | Party  | Vote

|
|
|

| James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose | Lord President of the Council of Scotland/Stirlingshire | Court Party  | Yes
| John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll |  | Court Party  | Yes
| John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale |  | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| William Kerr, 2nd Marquess of Lothian |  | Court Party  | Yes
| John Erskine, Earl of Mar |  | Court Party  | Yes
| John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland |  | Court Party  | Yes
| John Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of Rothes |  | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| James Douglas, 11th Earl of Morton |  |  | Yes
| William Cunningham, 12th Earl of Glencairn |  |  | Yes
| James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn |  |  | Yes
| John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe |  | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington |  |  | Yes
| John Maitland, 5th Earl of Lauderdale |  |  | Yes
| David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss |  |  | Yes
| William Ramsay, 5th Earl of Dalhousie |  |  | Yes
| James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater | Banffshire |  | Yes
| David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven |  |  | Yes
| David Carnegie, 4th Earl of Northesk |  |  | Yes
| Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres |  |  | Yes
| Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of Forfar |  |  | Yes
| William Boyd, 3rd Earl of Kilmarnock |  |  | Yes
| John Keith, 1st Earl of Kintore |  |  | Yes
| Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont |  | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie |  |  | Yes
| Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery |  |  | Yes
| David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow |  |  | Yes
| Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun | likely Linlithgowshire |  | Yes
| Henry Scott, 1st Earl of Deloraine |  |  | Yes
| Archibald Campbell, Earl of Illay |  |  | Yes
| William Hay, Viscount Dupplin |  |  | Yes
| William Forbes, 12th Lord Forbes |  |  | Yes
| John Elphinstone, 8th Lord Elphinstone |  |  | Yes
| William Ross, 12th Lord Ross |  |  | Yes
| James Sandilands, 7th Lord Torphichen |  |  | Yes
| Lord Fraser |  |  | Yes
| George Ogilvy, 3rd Lord Banff |  |  | Yes
| Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank |  |  | Yes
| Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus |  |  | Yes
| Robert Rollo, 4th Lord Rollo | Stirlingshire |  | Yes
| James Murray, Lord Philiphaugh | Lord Clerk Register/Selkirkshire |  | Yes
| Adam Cockburn, Lord Ormiston | Lord Justice Clerk |  | Yes
| Sir Robert Dickson of Inverask  | Edinburghshire |  | Yes
| William Nisbet of Dirletoun  | Haddingtonshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| John Cockburn, younger, of Ormestoun | Haddingtonshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Sir John Swintoun of that ilk  | Berwickshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir Alexander Campbell of Cessnock  | Berwickshire |  | Yes
| Sir William Kerr of Greenhead | Roxburghshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Archibald Douglas, 13th of Cavers | Roxburghshire | Court Party  | Yes
| William Bennet of Grubbet | Roxburghshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr John Murray of Bowhill | Selkirkshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr John Pringle of Haining  | Selkirkshire | Court Party  | Yes
| William Morison of Prestongrange | Peeblesshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Alexander Horseburgh of that ilk  | Peeblesshire |  | Yes
| George Baillie of Jerviswood  | Lanarkshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Sir John Johnstoun of Westerhall | Dumfriesshire | Court Party  | Yes
| William Dowglass of Dornock  | Dumfriesshire |  | Yes
| Mr William Stewart of Castlestewart  | Wigtownshire |  | Yes
| Mr John Stewart of Sorbie | Wigtownshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr Francis Montgomery of Giffan | Ayrshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr William Dalrymple of Glenmuir | Ayrshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr Robert Stewart of Tillicultrie  | Buteshire |  | Yes
| Sir Robert Pollock of that ilk | Renfrewshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr John Montgomery of Wrae  | Linlithgowshire |  | Yes
| John Halden of Glenagies  | Perthshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Mongo Graham of Gorthie  | Perthshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Sir Thomas Burnet of Leyes | Kincardineshire | Court Party  | Yes
| William Seton, younger, of Pitmedden | Aberdeenshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Alexander Grant, younger, of that ilk | Inverness-shire | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir William Mackenzie |  |  | Yes
| Mr Aeneas McLeod of Cadboll  | Cromartyshire |  | Yes
| Mr John Campbell of Mammore | Argyllshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir James Campbell of Auchinbreck | Argyllshire | Court Party  | Yes
| James Campbell, younger, of Ardkinglass | Argyllshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir William Anstruther of that ilk  | Fife |  | Yes
| James Halyburton of Pitcurr  | Forfarshire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Alexander Abercrombie of Glassoch | Banffshire | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr James Dunbarr, younger, of Hemprigs  | Caithness |  | Yes
| Alexander Douglas of Eagleshay | Orkney and Shetland | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir John Bruce, 2nd Baronet | Kinross-shire | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| John Scrimsour  | Dundee |  | Yes
| Lieutenant Colonel John Areskine  |  |  | Yes
| John Mure  | Likely Ayr |  | Yes
| James Scott | Montrose | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir John Anstruther, 1st Baronet, of Anstruther | Anstruther Easter |  | Yes
| James Spittle  | Inverkeithing |  | Yes
| Mr Patrick Moncrieff | Kinghorn | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir Andrew Home  | Kirkcudbright | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Sir Peter Halket  | Dunfermline | Squadrone Volante | Yes
| Sir James Smollet  | Dumbarton | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr William Carmichell  | Lanark |  | Yes
| Mr William Sutherland  | Elgin |  | Yes
| Captain Daniel McLeod  | Tain |  | Yes
| Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet | Culross | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir Alexander Ogilvie  | Banff |  | Yes
| Mr John Clerk | Whithorn | Court Party  | Yes
| John Ross  |  |  | Yes
| Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick | North Berwick |  | Yes
| Mr Patrick Ogilvie  | Cullen | Court Party  | Yes
| George Allardyce | Kintore | Court Party  | Yes
| William Avis  |  |  | Yes
| Mr James Bethun  | Kilrenny |  | Yes
| Mr Roderick McKenzie  | Fortrose |  | Yes
| John Urquhart  | Dornoch |  | Yes
| Daniel Campbell | Inveraray | Court Party  | Yes
| Sir Robert Forbes | Inverurie |  | Yes
| Mr Robert Dowglass  | Kirkwall |  | Yes
| Mr Alexander Maitland | Inverbervie | Court Party  | Yes
| Mr George Dalrymple  | Stranraer |  | Yes
| Mr Charles Campbell | Campbeltown |  | Yes
| James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton |  |  | No
| William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale | Annan |  | No
| Charles Hay, 13th Earl of Erroll |  |  | No
| William Keith, 9th Earl Marischal |  |  | No
| David Erskine, 9th Earl of Buchan |  |  | No
| Alexander Sinclair, 9th Earl of Caithness |  |  | No
| John Fleming, 6th Earl of Wigtown |  |  | No
| James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway |  |  | No
| David Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont |  |  | No
| William Livingston, 3rd Viscount of Kilsyth |  |  | No
| William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun |  |  | No
| Francis Sempill, 10th Lord Sempill |  |  | No
| Charles Oliphant, 7th Lord Oliphant |  |  | No
| John Elphinstone, 4th Lord Balmerino |  |  | No
| Walter Stuart, 6th Lord Blantyre | Linlithgow |  | No
| William Hamilton, 3rd Lord Bargany | Queensferry |  | No
| John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven and Stenton |  |  | No
| Lord Colvill |  |  | No
| Patrick Kinnaird, 3rd Lord Kinnaird |  |  | No
| Sir John Lawder of Fountainhall | Haddingtonshire |  | No
| Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun | Haddingtonshire |  | No
| Sir Robert Sinclair, 3rd Baronet | Berwickshire |  | No
| Sir Patrick Home of Rentoun | Berwickshire |  | No
| Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto | Roxburghshire |  | No
| William Bayllie of Lamingtoun | Lanarkshire |  | No
| John Sinclair, younger, of Stevensone | Lanarkshire |  | No
| James Hamilton of Aikenhead | Lanarkshire |  | No
| Mr Alexander Fergusson of Isle | Dumfriesshire |  | No
| Sir Hugh Cathcart of Carletoun | Ayrshire |  | No
| John Brisbane, younger, of Bishoptoun | Ayrshire |  | No
| Mr William Cochrane of Kilmaronock | Dumbartonshire |  | No
| Sir Humphray Colquhoun of Luss | Dumbartonshire |  | No
| Sir John Houstoun of that ilk | Renfrewshire |  | No
| Robert Rollo of Powhouse |  |  | No
| Thomas Sharp of Houstoun | Linlithgowshire |  | No
| John Murray of Strowan |  |  | No
| Alexander Gordon of Pitlurg | Aberdeenshire |  | No
| John Forbes of Colloden | Nairnshire |  | No
| David Bethun of Balfour | Fife |  | No
| Major Henry Balfour of Dunboog | Fife |  | No
| Mr Thomas Hope of Rankeillor |  |  | No
| Mr Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse | Forfarshire |  | No
| Mr James Carnagie of Phinhaven | Forfarshire |  | No
| David Graham, younger, of Fintrie | Forfarshire |  | No
| William Maxwell of Cardines | Kirkcudbrightshire |  | No
| Alexander McKye of Palgown | Kirkcudbrightshire |  | No
| James Sinclair of Stempster | Caithness |  | No
| Sir Henry Innes, younger, of that ilk | Elginshire |  | No
| Mr George McKenzie of Inchcoulter | Ross-shire |  | No
| Robert Inglis | Edinburgh |  | No
| Alexander Robertson  | Perth |  | No
| Walter Stewart  |  |  | No
| Hugh Montgomery | Glasgow | Court Party  | No
| Alexander Edgar  | Haddington |  | No
| Alexander Duff  | Banffshire |  | No
| Francis Molison  | Brechin |  | No
| Walter Scott  | Jedburgh |  | No
| Robert Scott  | Selkirk |  | No
| Robert Kellie  | Dunbar |  | No
| John Hutchesone  | Arbroath |  | No
| Archibald Scheills  | Peebles |  | No
| Mr John Lyon  | Forfar |  | No
| George Brodie  | Forres |  | No
| George Spens  | Rutherglen |  | No
| Sir David Cuningham | Lauder |  | No
| Mr John Carruthers  | Lochmaben |  | No
| George Home  | New Galloway |  | No
| John Bayne  | Dingwall |  | No
| Mr Robert Fraser  | Wick |  | No
Total Ayes  | 106
Total Noes  | 69
Total Votes  | 175
Sources: Records of the Parliament of Scotland, Parliamentary Register, p.598

## See also

[edit]

* Acts of Union 1800 (Kingdom of Great Britain with Kingdom of Ireland)
* Kingdom of Ireland
* English independence
* List of treaties
* MacCormick v Lord Advocate
* Parliament of the United Kingdom
* Political union
* Real union
* Scottish independence
* Unionism in Scotland
* Welsh independence

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Short Titles Act 1896. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
2. ^ The date would have been recorded at the time as 6 March 1706 (rather than 1707), because England (unlike Scotland) began each legal year on 25 March until the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 changed it to 1 January. Separately, the act itself is dated 1706 because, before the Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793, the date on which a Bill became law was the first day of the parliamentary session in which it was passed, unless the act contained a provision to the contrary.[1]
3. ^ Article I.
4. ^ The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 2 of, and the second schedule to, the Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
5. ^ Scottish Gaelic: Achd an Aonaidh
6. ^ Equivalent to about £25 million in 2023.[25]
7. ^ About £74 million in 2023.[25]
8. ^ About £3.3 billion in 2023.[25]
9. ^ About £3.7 million in 2023.[25]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Pickering, Danby, ed. (1794). "CAP. XIII An act to prevent acts of parliament from taking effect from a time prior to the passing thereof". The Statutes at Large : Anno tricesimo tertio George III Regis. Vol. XXXIX. Cambridge. pp. 32, 33. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2021.Anno+tricesimo+tertioCategory:Articles+containing+Latin-language+text+George+III+RegisCategory:Articles+containing+Latin-language+text&rft.place=Cambridge&rft.pages=32,+33&rft.date=1794&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwbC08mcZ-4C&pg;=PA32&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Acts+of+Union+1707" class="Z3988"> (33 Geo. 3. c. 13: "Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793")
2. ^ Lockyer 1998, pp. 51–52.
3. ^ Larkin & Hughes 1973, p. 19.
4. ^ Royal Proclamation 1604: Heraldica.ca
5. ^ Lockyer 1998, pp. 54–59.
6. ^ Russell, Conrad: James VI and I and rule over two kingdoms: an English view (King's College, London)
7. ^ Stephen 2010, pp. 55–58.
8. ^ McDonald 1998, pp. 75–76.
9. ^ Kaplan 1970, pp. 50–70.
10. ^ Robertson 2014, p. 125.
11. ^ Harris 2015, pp. 53–54.
12. ^ Morrill 1990, p. 162.
13. ^ Gardiner, Samuel Rawson, ed. (1906). "The Union with Scotland". The constitutional documents of the Puritan revolution, 1625-1660. p. 418 - via Internet Archive. (photocopy: machine-readable text of this page available at "98. An Ordinance by the Protector for the Union of England and Scotland". Constitution.org. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020.)
14. ^ The 1657 Act's long title was An Act and Declaration touching several Acts and Ordinances made since 20 April 1653, and before 3 September 1654, and other Acts
15. ^ "Cromwell's Britain". House of Lords. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008.
16. ^ MacIntosh 2007, pp. 79–87.
17. ^ Ronald Arthur Lee: 'Government and politics in Scotland, 1661–1681', 1995
18. ^ Whatley 2001, p. 95.
19. ^ The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707; 1689/3/159], K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2024)
20. ^ Lynch 1992, p. 305.
21. ^ Harris 2007, pp. 404–406.
22. ^ Whatley 2006, p. 91.
23. ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 301–302.
24. ^ Richards 2004, p. 79.
25. ^ a b c d United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
26. ^ Mitchison 2002, p. 314.
27. ^ Munck 2005, pp. 429–431.
28. ^ Jackson 2003, pp. 38–54.
29. ^ Horwitz 1986, pp. 10–11.
30. ^ Lynch 1992, pp. 300–303.
31. ^ a b c d e f g h i MacPherson, Hamish (27 September 2020). "How the Act of Union came about through a corrupt fixed deal in 1706". The National. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
32. ^ a b "Ratification, October 1706 – March 1707". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
33. ^ Cullen 2010, p. 117.
34. ^ Whatley 2001, p. 48.
35. ^ Watt 2007, p. ?.
36. ^ Whatley 1989, pp. 160–165.
37. ^ Devine, Thomas Martin (2012). The Scottish nation: a modern history. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7181-9673-8. OCLC 1004568536.
38. ^ "Scottish Referendums". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
39. ^ Bambery 2014, p. ?.
40. ^ a b c d Bowie, Karin (2003). "Public Opinion, Popular Politics and the Union of 1707". The Scottish Historical Review. 82 (214). Edinburgh University Press: 226–260\. doi:10.3366/shr.2003.82.2.226. JSTOR 25529719.
41. ^ Whatley, Christopher (2014). The Scots and the Union: Then and Now. Edinburgh University Press. p. 6
42. ^ Whatley, Christopher (2014). The Scots and the Union: Then and Now. Edinburgh University Press. p. 19
43. ^ The Humble Address of the Commissioners to the General Convention of the Royal Burrows of this Ancient Kingdom Convened the Twenty-Ninth of October 1706, at Edinburgh.
44. ^ Whatley, Christopher (2014). The Scots and the Union: Then and Now. Edinburgh University Press. p. 5
45. ^ The Parliamentary Register; Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the Houses of Lords and Commons, p. 448
46. ^ Journals of the Irish Commons, vol. iii. p. 421
47. ^ a b "The commissioners". UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
48. ^ "The course of negotiations". UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
49. ^ "Ratification". UK parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
50. ^ Macrae, The Rev. Alexander: Scotland Since the Union (1902)
51. ^ a b "1 May 1707 – the Union comes into effect". UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
52. ^ "Thanksgiving and lament". UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
53. ^ Riley 1969, pp. 523–524.
54. ^ G.N. Clark, The Later Stuarts, 1660–1714 (2nd ed. 1956) pp 290–93.
55. ^ Whatley, Christopher (2014). The Scots and the Union: Then and Now. Edinburgh University Press. p. 16
56. ^ Gordon Brown (2014). My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharing. Simon & Schuster UK. p. 150\. ISBN 9781471137518.
57. ^ a b Smout, Thomas Christopher (1964). "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707 | I. The Economic Background". The Economic History Review. 16 (3). Wiley on behalf of the Economic History Society: 455–467\. doi:10.2307/2592848. JSTOR 2592848.
58. ^ a b c d Reubens, Thomas (2013). "Scottish Economic Development in the face of English Hegemony: Trade Imbalances, Banking, and the Union of 1707". Proceedings of GREAT Day. 2012 (17): 301–311.
59. ^ a b Cruickshanks, Lauchlin Alexander (2008). "The Act of Union: Death or Reprieve for the Highlands? A Study of the Socio-Economic Impact of the Union on the Highlands of Scotland, 1707–1745" (PDF). Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University. pp. 81–83.
60. ^ a b c Ramos, Aida (2018). Shifting Capital Mercantilism and the Economics of the Act of Union of 1707. Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 28–36\. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96403-4. ISBN 978-3-319-96403-4.
61. ^ "Act of Parliament constituting the Company of Scotland, Trading to Africa and the Indies." Edinburgh, 26 June 1695 in Hart, Francis Russell (1929). The Disaster of Darien: The Story of the Scots Settlement and the Causes of its Failure 1699–1701. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press. p. 190.
62. ^ Pride, George S. (1950). The Treaty of Union of Scotland and England, 1707. London: Nelson. pp. 31–34.
63. ^ Whatley, Christopher (2014). The Scots and the Union: Then and Now. Edinburgh University Press. p. 18
64. ^ "Act of Union 1707: 300th Anniversary (House of Lords – Written answers, 6 November 2006)". TheyWorkForYou.com.
65. ^ Announced by the Scottish Culture Minister, Patricia Ferguson, 9 November 2006

### Works cited

[edit]

* Bambery, Chris (2014). A People's History of Scotland. Verso. ISBN 978-1-7866-3787-1.
* Campbell, R. H. (1964). "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. II. The Economic Consequences". The Economic History Review. 16 (3): 468–477\. doi:10.2307/2592849. JSTOR 2592849.
* Cullen, K. J. (2010). Famine in Scotland: The "Ill Years" of the 1690s. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3887-1.
* Harris, Tim (2007). Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685–1720. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-1410-1652-8.
* Harris, Tim (2015). Rebellion: Britain's First Stuart Kings, 1567–1642. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-1987-4311-8.
* Horwitz, Henry (1986). Parliament, Policy and Politics in the Reign of William III. MUP. ISBN 978-0-7190-0661-6.
* Jackson, Clare (2003). Restoration Scotland, 1660–1690: Royalist Politics, Religion and Ideas. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-8511-5930-0.
* Kaplan, Lawrence (May 1970). "Steps to War: The Scots and Parliament, 1642–1643". Journal of British Studies. 9 (2): 50–70\. doi:10.1086/385591. JSTOR 175155. S2CID 145723008.
* Larkin, James F.; Hughes, Paul L., eds. (1973). Stuart Royal Proclamations: Volume I. Clarendon Press.
* Lynch, Michael (1992). Scotland: a New History. Pimlico Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7126-9893-1.
* Lockyer, R (1998). James VI and I. London: Addison Wesley Longman. ISBN 978-0-5822-7962-9.
* MacIntosh, Gillian (2007). Scottish Parliament under Charles II, 1660–1685. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2457-7.
* McDonald, Alan (1998). The Jacobean Kirk, 1567–1625: Sovereignty, Polity and Liturgy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-8592-8373-8.
* Mitchison, Rosalind (2002). A History of Scotland. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-7880-5.
* Morrill, John (1990). Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution. Longman. ISBN 978-0-5820-1675-0.
* Munck, Thomas (2005). Seventeenth-Century Europe: State, Conflict and Social Order in Europe 1598–1700. Palgrave. ISBN 978-1-4039-3619-6.
* Richards, E (2004). OBritannia's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600. Continuum. ISBN 1-8528-5441-3.
* Riley, P.J.W. (1969). "The Union of 1707 as an Episode in English Politics". The English Historical Review. 84 (332): 498–527\. JSTOR 562482.
* Robertson, Barry (2014). Royalists at War in Scotland and Ireland, 1638–1650. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-3170-6106-9.
* Smout, T. C. (1964). "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. I. The Economic Background". The Economic History Review. 16 (3): 455–467\. doi:10.2307/2592848. JSTOR 2592848.
* Stephen, Jeffrey (2010). "Scottish Nationalism and Stuart Unionism: The Edinburgh Council, 1745". Journal of British Studies. 49 (1): 47–72\. doi:10.1086/644534. ISSN 0021-9371. S2CID 144730991.
* Watt, Douglas (2007). The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the wealth of nations. Luath Press. ISBN 978-1-9063-0709-7.
* Whatley, C (2001). Bought and sold for English Gold? Explaining the Union of 1707. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 978-1-8623-2140-3.
* Whatley, C (2006). The Scots and the Union. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1685-5.
* Whatley, Christopher (1989). "Economic Causes and Consequences of the Union of 1707: A Survey". Scottish Historical Review. 68 (186): 150–181\. JSTOR 25530416.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Defoe, Daniel. A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, 1724–1727
* Defoe, Daniel. The Letters of Daniel Defoe, GH Healey editor. Oxford: 1955.
* Fletcher, Andrew (Saltoun). An Account of a Conversation
* Lockhart, George, "The Lockhart Papers", 1702–1728

## External links

[edit]

* The full text of Act of Union 1707 at Wikisource
* Union with England Act and Union with Scotland Act – Full original text
* Treaty of Union and the Darien Experiment, University of Guelph, McLaughlin Library, Library and Archives Canada
* Text of the Union with Scotland Act 1706 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
* Text of the Union with England Act 1707 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
* Union with England Act 1707, from Records of the Parliaments of Scotland
* Image of original act from the Parliamentary Archives website

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