Acts of Union 1707

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.

Union with Scotland Act 1706

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
Commencement	1 May 1707
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: Current legislation
Text of the Union with Scotland Act 1706 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Union with England Act 1707

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.

The Acts of Union refer to two Acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of England in 1706, the other by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. 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" the self-styled Kingdom of Great Britain, with Queen Anne as sovereign of both Kingdoms. The English and Scots Acts of ratification took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the "self-styled" political "UK Union" State Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster.

The two countries shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his cousin Elizabeth I. Attempts had been made in 1606, 1667, and 1689 following the 5th November 1688 Dutch invasion by force of arms and overthrow of James II King of England (VII of Scots) by his son-in-law and daughter Mary to try to unite the two separate Countries, 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, "though not the Scots people" came to support the idea of an international "Treaty of political, monitory and trade Union", albeit for different reasons.

Political background

Prior to 1603, England and Scotland had different monarchs, but when Elizabeth I died without children, she was succeeded 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.

The 1603 Union of England and Scotland Act established a joint Commission to agree terms, but 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".

Attempts to revive the project of union in 1610 were met with hostility. 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". Instead, James set about creating a unified Church of Scotland and England, as the first step towards a centralised, Unionist state.

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. 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. Presbyterian leaders like Argyll viewed union as a way to ensure free trade between England and Scotland, and preserve a Scots Presbyterian kirk.

Under the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant, the Scots agreed to provide Scots Parliament military support 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 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.

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 1650 agreed to restore him to the English throne.

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

In 1653, defeat in the Anglo-Scottish War resulted in Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth, largely driven by Cromwell's determination to break the power of the Scots kirk. 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. 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.

1660–1707

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

The Scottish economy was badly damaged by the 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 (of England, VI of Scotland). 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.

Following Dutch Prince William of Orange and wife Mary's (daughter of James) invasion "by force of arms" at the head of a Dutch fleet and army and overthrow of Catholic James II King of England Glorious Revolution of Nov' 1688, a Scottish Convention sister body to the Parliament of Scotland met in Edinburgh in April 1689 to agree a new Constitutional settlement for Scotland; during which the Scottish Bishops backed a proposed union in an attempt to preserve Episcopalian control of the Scots kirk. The Convention of the Estates ("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". William and Mary were supportive of the idea but it was opposed both by the Presbyterian majority in Scotland and the English Parliament. 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.

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. In 1698, the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies received a charter to raise capital through public subscription. 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. The scheme was a disaster; the losses of over £150,000 severely impacted the Scottish commercial system.

Political motivations

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.

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".

The issue reappeared during the 1688 Dutch invasion "by force of arms" 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 abandoned his English subjects and "abdicated", but resisted 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. In Scotland, it became a Constitutional issue. The fact that James VII of Scots had not been present in the Scotland meant his abdication was out of the question. 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, ending the principle of divine right of kings. Enshrined in the 1707 Union with England Act 1707: i.e. “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.

William’s attempts to have the Claim of Right amended were directed through the 'Court faction’ which began arguing from 1699 onwards that: a. The Convention of the Estates wasn’t a parliament so the Act didn’t really count as binding and b. 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, raties, 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

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". 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, 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. 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".

Scottish perspective

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. The Scottish Parliament was promised financial assistance, protection for its maritime trade, and an end to economic restrictions on trade with England.

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. Article 15 granted £398,085 and ten shillings sterling to Scotland, a sum known as The Equivalent, to offset future liability towards the English national debt, which at the time was £18 million, but as Scotland had no national debt, 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.

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, 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.

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, even if it was reluctantly. Professor Sir Tom Devine agreed that promises of "favours, sinecures, pensions, offices and straightforward cash bribes became indispensable to secure government majorities".

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.

The Union was carried by members of the Scottish elite against the wishes of the great majority. 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". 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.

As the treaty passed through the Scottish Parliament, 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.

Not one petition in favour of Union was received by Parliament. On the day the treaty was signed, the carillonneur in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, rang the bells to the tune of "Why should I be so sad on my wedding day?" Threats of widespread civil unrest resulted in Parliament imposing martial law.

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. Country party tracts condemned English influence within the existing framework of the Union of the Crowns and asserted the need to renegotiate this union. During this period, the Darien failure, the succession issue and the Worcester seizure all provided opportunities for Scottish writers to attack the Court Party as unpatriotic and reaffirm the need to fight for true interests of Scotland.

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." 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.

Ireland

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 of 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". 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

"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. 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.

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, 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.

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. The Court party enjoyed significant funding from England and the Treasury and included many who had accumulated debts following the Darien Disaster.

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. 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. He had personally received around half of the funding awarded by the Westminster Treasury. 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. 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".

Provisions

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Economic perspective

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, with little to no interaction between each other. Developing a closer economic partnership with England was unsustainable, and Scotland's main trade partner was continental Europe, especially the Netherlands, where Scotland could trade its wool and fish for luxurious imports such as iron, spices or wine. Scotland and England were generally hostile to each other and were often at war, and the alliance with France gave Scotland privileges that further encouraged developing cultural and economic ties with the continent rather than England. The union of 1603 only served the political and dynastic ambitions of King James and was detrimental to Scotland economically – exports that Scotland offered were largely irrelevant to English economy, and while the Privy Council of Scotland did keep its ability to manage internal economic policy, the foreign policy of Scotland was now in English hands. This limited Scotland's hitherto expansive trade with continental Europe, and forced it into English wars.

While the Scottish economy already suffered because of English wars with France and Spain in the 1620s, the civil wars in England had a particularly disastrous effect on Scotland and left it relatively impoverished as a result. The economy would slowly recover afterwards, but at the cost of being increasingly dependent on trade with England. A power struggle developed between Scotland and England in the 1680s, as Scotland recovered from the political turmoil and set on its own economic ambitions, which London considered a threat to its dominant and well-established position. English wars with continental powers undermined Scottish trade with France and the Netherlands, countries that used to be the Scotland's main trade partners before the union, and the English Navigation Acts severely limited Scottish ability to trade by sea, and made the Scottish ambitions to expand the trade beyond Europe unachievable. Opinion in Scotland at the time was that England was sabotaging Scottish economic expansion.

In the years leading to 1707, 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. In turn, the overreliance of Scottish landowners on foreign goods led to a deficit of financial capital, as gold and silver were exported overseas and deflation occurred. 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.

Scotland grew increasingly dependent on its linen industry, which became the biggest source of employment after agriculture and constituted 1/3 of Scottish industries. 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. 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.

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. 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." 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.

The failure of Darien scheme led to a financial crisis in Scotland. The high cost of its project exacerbated the deflation in Scotland. 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.

By 1703, the Scottish government was 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 anti-English sentiment led to accusation of King William orchestrating the 1699 Glencoe Massacre, and in 1703 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. Scotland would try to establish further autonomy from England with the 1704 Act of Security, which provoked a retaliation from England - Scottish ministers were bribed, and Alien Act 1705 was passed. According to the Alien Act, unless Scotland appointed commissioners to negotiate for union by Christmas, every Scot in England would be treated as an alien, leading to the confiscation of their English estates. Additionally, Scottish wares were to be banned from England. Christopher Smout notes that England desired to expand its influence by annexing Scotland:

In sum, England was now seeking Parliamentary Union for political reasons at a moment when the Scots had become dissatisfied with Regal Union for economic reasons: and one of the main weapons chosen by the English to enforce their will was the threat of economic sanctions. The repeal of the Alien Act before it could come into force scarcely reduced its menace: a big stick is a big stick, even if it is replaced in the cupboard unused.

The act sparked vehement anti-English sentiment in Scotland, and made the already hostile Scottish public more opposed to England:

The crew of an English East Indiaman, the Worcester, that had put into Leith to escape a storm was arrested on a spurious charge of piracy and executed after a parody of a trial, victims of a wave of anti-English hysteria which the Ministers of the Crown dared not be seen to oppose. As late as June, the Scottish Uniornist Cockburn of Ormiston declared he could not find ten men in Parliament willing to join England in a full Union - an exaggeration no doubt, but an indication of the contemporary force of feeling.

The Scottish economy was now facing a crisis, and the parliament was polarised into pro-union and anti-union factions, with the former led by Daniel Defoe. The unionists stressed how important trade with England is to the Scottish economy, and seen trade with continental Europe as not beneficial. They argued that the Scottish economy could survive by trading with England, and sanctions that would result from the Alien Act would collapse the economy. For Defoe, joining the union would not only prevent the Alien Act, but also remove additional limitations and regulations and lead Scotland to prosperity. Anti-unionists questioned the English goodwill and criticised the unionist faction for submitting to the English blackmail. They argued that Scotland could make a recovery by trading with the Netherlands, Spain and Norway, allowing Scotland to diversify its own industries as well. They argued that the union would make Scotland unable to conduct independent trade policy, meaning that any possibility to remove the flaws in Scottish economy would be gone forever, which would turn Scotland into a "mere satellite of the richer kingdom".

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. 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. 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.

300th anniversary

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.

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.

Scottish voting records

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

• 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

References

Works cited

• 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

• 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

• 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