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.

The Acts of Union (Scottish Gaelic: Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. By the two Acts, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland—which at the time were separate states with separate legislatures, but with the same monarch—were, in the words of the Treaty, "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".^[3]

Union with Scotland Act 1706^[1]

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
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^[2]

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 two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a Union of Crowns, and in spite of James's acknowledgement of his accession to a single Crown,^[4] England and Scotland were officially separate Kingdoms until 1707 (as opposed to the implied creation of a single unified Kingdom, exemplified by the later Kingdom of Great Britain). Prior to the Acts of Union, there had been three previous attempts (in 1606, 1667, and 1689) to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons.

The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707. On this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the previous home of the English Parliament.^[5] This specific process is sometimes referred to as the "union of the Parliaments" in Scotland.^[6]

Political background prior to 1707

1603–1660

Prior to 1603, England and Scotland had different monarchs; as Elizabeth I never married, after 1567, her heir-presumptive became the Stuart king of Scotland, James VI, who was brought up as a Protestant. After her death, the two Crowns were held in personal union by James, as James I of England, and James VI of Scotland. He announced his intention to unite the two, using the royal prerogative to take the title "King of Great Britain", ^[7] and give a British character to his court and person.^[8]

The 1603 Union of England and Scotland Act established a joint Commission to agree terms, but the English Parliament was concerned this would lead to the imposition of an absolutist structure similar to that of Scotland. James was forced to withdraw his proposals, and attempts to revive it in 1610 were met with hostility.^[9]

 

Scottish opposition to Stuart attempts to impose religious union led to the 1638 National Covenant

Instead, he set about creating a unified Church of Scotland and England, as the first step towards a centralised, Unionist state.^[10] 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.^[11] 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 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 a Royalist victory.^[12] Presbyterian leaders like Argyll viewed union as a way to ensure free trade between England and Scotland, and preserve a Presbyterian kirk.^[13]

 

The 1643 Solemn League and Covenant between England and Scotland

Under the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant, the Covenanters agreed to provide military support for the English Parliament, in return for religious union. Although the treaty referred repeatedly to 'union' between England, Scotland, and Ireland, political union had little support outside the Kirk Party. Even religious union was opposed by the Episcopalian majority in the Church of England, and Independents like Oliver Cromwell, who dominated the New Model Army.

The Scots and English Presbyterians were political conservatives, who 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, they allied with their former enemies to restore him to the English throne.^[14]

After defeat in the 1647–1648 Second English Civil War, Scotland was occupied by English troops which were withdrawn once the so-called Engagers whom Cromwell held responsible for the war had been replaced by the Kirk Party. In December 1648, Pride's Purge confirmed Cromwell's political control in England by removing Presbyterian MPs from Parliament, and executing Charles in January 1649. Seeing this as sacrilege, the Kirk Party proclaimed Charles II King of Scotland and England, and agreed to restore him to the English throne.

 

The Battle of Dunbar (1650): Scotland was incorporated into the Commonwealth after defeat in the 1650–1651 Anglo-Scots War

Defeat in the 1649–1651 Third English Civil War or Anglo-Scottish War resulted in Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, largely driven by Cromwell's determination to break the power of the kirk, which he held responsible for the Anglo-Scottish War.^[15] 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, Scotland and Ireland.^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] 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 were 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.^[19] Continued opposition meant these negotiations were abandoned by the end of 1669.^[20]

Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a Scottish Convention met in Edinburgh in April 1689 to agree a new constitutional settlement; during which the Scottish Bishops backed a proposed union in an attempt to preserve Episcopalian control of the kirk. William and Mary were supportive of the idea but it was opposed both by the Presbyterian majority in Scotland and the English Parliament.^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23] In 1698, the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies received a charter to raise capital through public subscription.^[24] 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.^[25] The scheme was a disaster; the losses of over £150,000^[a] severely impacted the Scottish commercial system.^[27]

Political motivations

The Acts 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 and Spain. While there were exceptions, such as the Dutch Republic or the Republic of Venice, the trend was clear.^[28]

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 Scotland) succeeding his brother Charles. James was sent to Edinburgh in 1681 as Lord High Commissioner; in August, the Scottish Parliament 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 Scottish Crown. It then went beyond ensuring James's succession to the Scottish 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".^[29]

The issue reappeared during the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The English Parliament generally supported replacing James with his Protestant daughter Mary, but resisted making her Dutch husband William of Orange joint ruler. They gave way only when he threatened to return to the Netherlands, and Mary refused to rule without him.^[30] In Scotland, 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.^[31]

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".^[32] 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,^[32] 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. Next 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.^[32] 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".^[33]

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.^[34] The Scottish Parliament was promised financial assistance, protection for its maritime trade, and an end to economic restrictions on trade with England.^[35]

The votes of the Court party, influenced by Queen Anne's favourite, the Duke of Queensberry, combined with the majority of the Squadrone Volante, were sufficient to ensure passage of the treaty.^[32] Article 15 granted £398,085 and ten shillings sterling to Scotland,^[b] a sum known as The Equivalent, to offset future liability towards the English national debt, which at the time was £18 million,^[c] but as Scotland had no national debt,^[32] 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.^[36]

 

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 the Earl of Glasgow,^[d] of which 60% went to James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, the Queen's Commissioner in Parliament. Another negotiator, Argyll was given an English peerage.^[32] 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,^[33] even if it was reluctantly.^[37] Professor Sir Tom Devine agreed that promises of "favours, sinecures, pensions, offices and straightforward cash bribes became indispensable to secure government majorities".^[38] 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.^[32]

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".^[39] 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.^[40]

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.^[41]

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 in the tune "Why should I be so sad on my wedding day?"^[42] Threats of widespread civil unrest resulted in Parliament imposing martial law.

The Union was carried by members of the Scottish elite against the wishes of the great majority. The Scottish population was overwhelmingly against the union with England, and 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.^[43] 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.^[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."^[43] Ferguson provides 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.^[43]

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".^[44][45] 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 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 Queensberry, and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, the Earl of Seafield.^[46] The English commissioners included the Lord High Treasurer, the Earl of Godolphin, the Lord Keeper, 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.^[46]

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,^[32] 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.^[47]

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 Marquess of Montrose and the Duke of Roxburghe. Opponents of the court were generally known as the Country party, and included various factions and individuals such as the Duke of 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.^[32] The Court party enjoyed significant funding from England and the Treasury and included many who had accumulated debts following the Darien Disaster.^[48]

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.^[49] 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 also received much criticism from local residents, but in England he was cheered for his action. He had personally received around half of the funding awarded by the Westminster Treasury for himself. 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.^[50]

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.^[51]

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 English and Scottish Privy Councils 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.^[52]

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.^[53]

Economic perspective

Scottish historian Christopher Smout notes that 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.^[54]

While the Scottish economy already suffered because of English wars with France and Spain in 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 after that, but it came at the cost of being increasingly dependent on trade with England. A power struggle developed between Scotland and England in 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.^[54] 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.^[54]

The frustration caused by economic and political rivalry with England led to the Darien scheme - an unsuccessful to establish a Scottish colony in the Gulf of Darién. Christopher Smout argues that the scheme was successfully sabotaged by England in various ways - it was seen as a threat to the privileged position of the East India Company, and as such England did everything to ensure the plan's failure via political and diplomatic overtures to prevent the Netherlands and Hamburg from investing into the scheme while also refusing to assist the settlers in any way. Following the disastrous failure of the scheme, Scottish economy seemed to be on the brink of collapse, but ultimately Scotland was able to recover from it fairly quickly.^[54]

By 1703, Scottish government was highly disillusioned and unsatisfied with the union, and many believed that the only way to let Scottish economy flourish was to separate from England. Fletcher of Saltoun called Scotland 'totally neglected, like a farm managed by servants not under the eye of the master', and the failure of the Darien Scheme was commonly attributed to English sabotage.^[54] Scottish parliament would try to establish its autonomy from England with 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.^[54]

The act sparked vehement anti-English sentiment in Scotland, and made the already hostile Scottish public even 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.^[54]

The Scottish economy was now facing a crisis, and the parliament was polarised into a 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 portrayed trade with continental Europe as not beneficial, or nowhere as profitable as trading with England. 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 would also remove additional limitations and regulations, which could 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, with the diverse European markets allowing Scotland to diversify its own industries as well. They noted 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".^[54] Ultimately, Scottish ministers voted in favour of the union, which was against the public opinion, as the Scottish population at the time was overwhelmingly against any union with England.^[43] Many considered themselves betrayed by their own elite, and Smout argues that the union bill was only able to pass thanks to the English bribery.^[54]

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.^[55]

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.^[56]

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
	Earl of Belcarras			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 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 Baylie 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

Notes

1. Equivalent to about £21 million in 2019.^[26]
2. About £61 million in 2019.^[26]
3. About £2.8 billion in 2019.^[26]
4. About £3.1 million in 2019.^[26]

References

1. The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by section 1 of, and Schedule 1 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 citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964, section 2 and Schedule 2. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
3. Article I of the Treaty of Union
4. "House of Commons Journal Volume 1: 31 March 1607". from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
5. Act of Union 1707, Article 3
6. "Glossary". archive2021.parliament.scot. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
7. Larkin & Hughes 1973, p. 19.
8. Lockyer 1998, pp. 51–52.
9. Lockyer 1998, pp. 54–59.
10. Stephen 2010, pp. 55–58.
11. McDonald 1998, pp. 75–76.
12. Kaplan 1970, pp. 50–70.
13. Robertson 2014, p. 125.
14. Harris 2015, pp. 53–54.
15. Morrill 1990, p. 162.
16. "Constitution.org". from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
17. 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
18. Parliament.uk 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
19. MacIntosh 2007, pp. 79–87.
20. Whatley 2001, p. 95.
21. Lynch 1992, p. 305.
22. Harris 2007, pp. 404–406.
23. Whatley 2006, p. 91.
24. Mitchison 2002, pp. 301–302.
25. Richards 2004, p. 79.
26. United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2018). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
27. Mitchison 2002, p. 314.
28. Munck 2005, pp. 429–431.
29. Jackson 2003, pp. 38–54.
30. Horwitz 1986, pp. 10–11.
31. Lynch 1992, pp. 300–303.
32. MacPherson, Hamish (27 September 2020). "How the Act of Union came about through a corrupt fixed deal in 1706". The National. from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
33. "Ratification, October 1706 – March 1707". Parliament of the United Kingdom. from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
34. Cullen 2010, p. 117.
35. Whatley 2001, p. 48.
36. Watt 2007, p. ?.
37. Whatley 1989, pp. 160–165.
38. Devine, Thomas Martin (5 July 2012). The Scottish nation: a modern history. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7181-9673-8. OCLC 1004568536.
39. "Scottish Referendums". BBC. from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
40. Bambery 2014, p. ?.
41. 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.
42. Notes by John Purser to CD Scotland's Music, Facts about Edinburgh 7 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
43. Bowie, Karin (2003). "Public Opinion, Popular Politics and the Union of 1707". The Scottish Historical Review. Edinburgh University Press. 82 (214): 226–260. doi:10.3366/shr.2003.82.2.226. JSTOR 25529719.
44. The Parliamentary Register; Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the Houses of Lords and Commons, page 448
45. Journals of the Irish Commons, vol. iii. p. 421
46. . UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
47. . UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
48. . UK parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
49. Macrae, The Rev. Alexander: Scotland Since the Union' (1902)
50. . UK Parliament website. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
51. Riley 1969, pp. 523–524.
52. G.N. Clark, The Later Stuarts, 1660–1714 (2nd ed. 1956) pp 290–93.
53. Gordon Brown (2014). My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharing. Simon & Schuster UK. p. 150. ISBN 9781471137518.
54. Smout, Thomas Christopher (1964). "I. The Economic Background". The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. pp. 455–467. JSTOR 2592848. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
55. House of Lords – Written answers, 6 November 2006, TheyWorkForYou.com
56. Announced by the Scottish Culture Minister, Patricia Ferguson, 9 November 2006

Sources and further reading

• Bambery, Chris (2014). A People's History of Scotland. Verso. ISBN 978-1786637871.
• Campbell, R. H. "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. II. The Economic Consequences". Economic History Review vol. 16, no. 3, 1964, pp. 468–477 online 2 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Cullen, K. J. (2010). Famine in Scotland: The "Ill Years" of the 1690s. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748638871.
• Harris, Tim (2007). Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685–1720. Penguin. ISBN 978-0141016528.
• Harris, Tim (2015). Rebellion: Britain's First Stuart Kings, 1567–1642. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0198743118.
• Horwitz, Henry (1986). Parliament, Policy and Politics in the Reign of William III. MUP. ISBN 978-0719006616.
• Jackson, Clare (2003). Restoration Scotland, 1660–1690: Royalist Politics, Religion and Ideas. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0851159300.
• 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 978-0712698931.
• Lockyer, R (1998). James VI and I. London: Addison Wesley Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-27962-9.
• MacIntosh, Gillian (2007). Scottish Parliament under Charles II, 1660–1685. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748624577.
• McDonald, Alan (1998). The Jacobean Kirk, 1567–1625: Sovereignty, Polity and Liturgy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1859283738.
• Mitchison, Rosalind (2002). A History of Scotland. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415278805.
• Morrill, John (1990). Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution. Longman. ISBN 978-0582016750.
• Munck, Thomas (2005). Seventeenth-Century Europe: State, Conflict and Social Order in Europe 1598–1700. Palgrave. ISBN 978-1403936196.
• Richards, E (2004). OBritannia's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600. Continuum. ISBN 1852854413.
• Riley, PJW (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 978-1317061069.
• Smout, T. C. "The Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707. I. The Economic Background". Economic History Review vol. 16, no. 3, 1964, pp. 455–467. online 13 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Stephen, Jeffrey (January 2010). "Scottish Nationalism and Stuart Unionism". Journal of British Studies. 49 (1, Scottish Special). doi:10.1086/644534. S2CID 144730991.
• Watt, Douglas (2007). The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the wealth of nations. Luath Press. ISBN 978-1906307097.
• Whatley, C (2001). Bought and sold for English Gold? Explaining the Union of 1707. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 978-1-86232-140-3.
• 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).

Other books

• Defoe, Daniel. A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, 1724–27
• 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