Act of Union (1707)

Act of Union (1707)
Sodacan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Act of Union (1707)
Date enacted	1707
Jurisdiction	Kingdom of Great Britain
Original languages	English, Scots
Related legislation	Treaty of Union (1706), Union with England Act 1707, Union with Scotland Act 1706

Act of Union (1707) The Acts passed in 1707 united the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain, creating a single Parliament of Great Britain under the House of Commons and House of Lords. The legislation followed negotiations involving the Duke of Queensberry, the Earl of Mar, the Commissioners of Union and the crowns of Queen Anne and the House of Stuart, amid rivalry with the Kingdom of France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire.

Background and context

The union developed from dynastic links after the Union of the Crowns under James VI and I and constitutional tensions between the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England over the Succession to the Crown Act 1701, the Glorious Revolution and the Jacobite risings. Economic crises such as the Darien scheme debacle involved the Company of Scotland and influenced discussions with East India Company, Bank of England and merchants from Glasgow and Edinburgh. International security concerns featured the War of the Spanish Succession, the Grand Alliance, and fears of French influence after the Treaty of Utrecht negotiations.

Negotiation and passage

Negotiations produced the Treaty of Union (1706) between commissioners including the Duke of Argyll, the Marquess of Tweeddale, the Earl of Seafield and English envoys such as the Earl of Oxford. The treaty was ratified by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England through the Union with England Act 1707 and the Union with Scotland Act 1706, following campaigning by factions led by the Squadrone Volante, the Country party, the Court party and opponents like the Society of the Friends of the People. Public controversy involved pamphleteers such as Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun and Daniel Defoe, newspapers in London and Edinburgh, and protests in port towns including Leith and Dundee.

Terms and provisions

Key provisions created a single Parliament of Great Britain based at Westminster, provided for the representation of Scottish peers and Scottish MPs and guaranteed preservation of Scots law and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (the Kirk]). Financial clauses included the "Equivalent" payment to compensate investors in the Company of Scotland and adjustments to taxation affecting merchants in Port of London, Glasgow, and the Clyde. Commercial provisions opened the English colonial trade to Scottish merchants and aligned coinage and customs with institutions such as the Bank of England and the Royal Mint.

Political and constitutional impact

The Acts abolished the separate Parliament of Scotland and merged political elites from families like the Campbells, the Murrays, the Hamiltons and the Douglases into the imperial political system dominated by Whigs and Tories. The settlement affected the Jacobite movement and led to later conflicts such as the Jacobite Rising of 1715 and the Jacobite Rising of 1745, while shaping the evolution of the United Kingdom and later imperial governance in colonies like British North America and the West Indies.

Economic and social consequences

Economic integration benefited trading centers such as Glasgow, Leith, Aberdeen and Newcastle upon Tyne through access to colonial markets, influencing entrepreneurs involved with the Hudson's Bay Company, the Royal African Company and the East India Company. The union stimulated growth in sectors including shipbuilding on the River Clyde and finance associated with the Bank of Scotland and Scottish banking innovations, while provoking dislocation among rural tenants in the Highlands and contributing to migration to colonies like Nova Scotia and East Jersey. Social effects included debates in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, shifts among the Scottish landed class, and cultural responses from writers such as Robert Burns and historians like David Hume.

Implementation and Scottish responses

Implementation required integrating legal systems via Scottish courts including the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary, reconciling property rights in Scottish baronies and burghs such as Stirling and Perth, and incorporating tax systems under the Board of Customs. Scottish responses ranged from acceptance by urban elites in Edinburgh and Paisley to resistance by Jacobites, protests in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and popular riots in locales like Glasgow and Inverness. Emigration, literary pamphleteering, and continued political agitation involved figures like Lord Lovat, Simon Fraser, and activists in the Society of the Friends of the People.

Legacy and interpretation

Historians such as T. C. Smout, Gordon Donaldson, Christopher Whatley and E. A. Wrigley debate whether the Acts catalyzed Scottish economic modernization or represented elite accommodation, while political historians compare the union with later unions like the Acts of Union 1800 and constitutional developments toward the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cultural memory includes art by Allan Ramsay, poetry by Robert Burns and institutional traces in the National Records of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. Contemporary debates about devolution, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party and proposals for independence reference the 1707 settlement in discussions involving the European Union and modern constitutional law.

Category:1707 in law Category:1707 in Scotland Category:Unionism in the British Isles