# Acts of Union 1707

Constitutional documents and events relevant to the status of the United Kingdom and its countries :
List per year
Treaty of Union1706Acts of Union1707Succession to the Crown Act 17071707Septennial Act1716Wales and Berwick Act1746Constitution of Ireland (1782)1782Acts of Union 18001800HC (Disqualifications) Act 18011801Reform Act 18321832Scottish Reform Act 18321832Irish Reform Act 18321832Judicial Committee Act 18331833Judicial Committee Act 18431843Judicial Committee Act 18441844Representation of the People Act 18671867Reform Act (Scotland) 18681868Reform Act (Ireland) 18681868Irish Church Act1869Royal Titles Act 18761876Appellate Jurisdiction Act1876Reform Act 18841884Interpretation Act 18891889Parliament Act1911Aliens Restriction Act1914Status of Aliens Act 19141914Government of Ireland Act 19141914Welsh Church Act1914Royal Proclamation of 19171917Representation of the People Act 19181918Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act1919Government of Ireland Act1920Anglo-Irish Treaty1921Church of Scotland Act 19211921Irish Free State (Agreement) Act1922Irish Free State Constitution Act1922Ireland (Confirm. of Agreement) Act 19251925Balfour Declaration of 19261926Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act1927Representation of the People Act 19281928Eire (Confirmation of Agreement) Act 19291929Statute of Westminster1931HM Declaration of Abdication Act 19361936Regency Act 19371937Regency Act 19431943British Nationality Act 19481948Representation of the People Act 19481948Ireland Act 19491949Statute of the Council of Europe1949Parliament Act 19491949Regency Act 19531953Royal Titles Act 19531953European Convention on Human Rights1953Interpretation Act (NI)1954HC Disqualification Act 19571957Life Peerages Act1958Commonwealth Immigrants Act 19621962Peerage Act1963Royal Assent Act1967Commonwealth Immigrants Act 19681968Immigration Act1971EC Treaty of Accession1972NI (Temporary Provisions) Act1972European Communities Act1972Local Government Act1972UK joins the European Communities1973Local Government (Scotland) Act1973NI border poll1973NI Constitution Act1973House of Commons Disqualification Act1975Referendum Act1975EC membership referendum1975Interpretation Act1978Scotland Act 19781978Wales Act 19781978Scottish devolution referendum1979Welsh devolution referendum1979British Nationality Act1981Representation of the People Act 19831983Representation of the People Act 19851985Single European Act1985Maastricht Treaty1993Local Government (Wales) Act1994Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act1994Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act1997Scottish devolution referendum1997Welsh devolution referendum1997Good Friday Agreement1998Northern Ireland Act1998Government of Wales Act1998Human Rights Act1998Scotland Act1998House of Lords Act1999Representation of the People Act 20002000Parties, Elections and Referendums Act2000Constitutional Reform Act2005Government of Wales Act 20062006Northern Ireland Act 20092009Lisbon Treaty2009Constitutional Reform and Governance Act2010Parl. Voting System and Constituencies Act2011Welsh devolution referendum2011Alternative Vote referendum2011European Union Act 20112011Fixed-term Parliaments Act2011Scotland Act 20122012Succession to the Crown Act 20132013Scottish independence referendum2014House of Lords Reform Act2014Wales Act 20142014HL (Expulsion and Suspension) Act2015Recall of MPs Act2015European Union Referendum Act2015EU membership referendum2016Scotland Act 20162016Wales Act 20172017EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act2017Invocation of Article 502017European Union (Withdrawal) Act2018EU Withdrawal Act 20192019 EU Withdrawal (No. 2) Act2019 Early Parliamentary General Election Act2019EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act2020UK leaves the European Union2020UK Internal Market Act2020EU (Future Relationship) Act2020Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act2022 Elections Act2022 :
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The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the International Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which politically joined the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single "political state", the Kingdom of Great Britain, with Queen Anne as sovereign of both Kingdoms. The English and Scottish acts of ratification took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the new kingdom, with its parliament based in the Palace of Westminster.
The two countries had shared a monarch since the "personal" Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his cousin Elizabeth I to become (in addition) 'James I of England', styled James VI and I. Attempts had been made to try to unite the two separate countries, in 1606, 1667, and in 1689 (following the 1688 Dutch invasion of England, and subsequent deposition of James II of England by his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange), but it was not until the early 18th century that both nations via separate groups of English and Scots Royal Commissioners and their respective political establishments, "though not the Scots people", came to support the idea of an international "Treaty of political, monetary 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 as King of England by her distant relative, James VI of Scotland. After her death, the two Crowns were held in personal union by James (reigning as James VI and I), who announced his intention to unite the two realms.
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 Parliament agreed to provide military support to its English counterpart in return for a united Presbyterian church, but did not explicitly commit to political union. As the war progressed, Scots and English Presbyterians increasingly viewed the English Independents, and associated radical groups like the Levellers, as a bigger threat than the Royalists. Both Royalists and Presbyterians agreed monarchy was divinely ordered, but disagreed on the nature and extent of Royal authority over the church. When Charles I surrendered in 1646, an English pro-Royalist faction known as the Engagers allied with their former enemies to restore him to the English throne.
After defeat in the 1647–1648 Second English Civil War, Scotland was occupied by English troops, which were withdrawn once those whom Cromwell held responsible had been replaced by the Kirk Party. In December 1648, Pride's Purge paved the way for the Trial of Charles I in England by excluding MPs who opposed it. Following the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England, the Scots Kirk Party proclaimed Charles II King of Scots and England and, in the 1650 Treaty of Breda, resolved to restore him to the English throne. Instead, defeat in the Anglo-Scottish War resulted in Scotland's incorporation into the Commonwealth in 1653, largely driven by Cromwell's determination to break the power of the Scots kirk. 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 the union was dissolved after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.
The Scottish economy was badly damaged by the (protectionist) English Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663 and England's wars with the Dutch Republic, Scotland's major export market. An Anglo-Scots Trade Commission was set up in January 1668 but the English had no interest in making concessions, as the Scots had little to offer in return. In 1669, Charles II revived talks on "political union"; his motives may have been to weaken Scotland's commercial and political links with the Dutch, still seen as an enemy and complete the work of his grandfather James I and VI. 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 the 1688 invasion of England by a Dutch fleet and army led by Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary (daughter of James II), and their deposition of James II as King of England, a Scottish Convention of the Estates (a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland) met in Edinburgh in April 1689 to agree a new Constitutional settlement for Scotland. The Convention of the Estates issued an address to William and Mary "as both kingdomes are united in one head and soveraigne so they may become one body pollitick, one nation to be represented in one parliament", reserving "our church government, as it shall be established at the tyme of the union". 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 and coup d'etat (subsequently entitled as "the Glorious Revolution"). The English Convention Parliament generally supported replacing King James II with his Protestant daughter Mary, holding to their "legal fiction" that James, by fleeing to France, had abandoned his English subjects and "abdicated". They resisted, however, making her Dutch husband William of Orange joint ruler. They gave way "fearing the return of James" only when William threatened to take his troops and fleet and return to the Netherlands, and Mary refused to rule without him.
In Scotland, it became a Constitutional issue. The fact that James VII of Scots had not been present in the Scotland meant that the question of abdication need not arise. On 4 April 1689 a Convention of the Three Estates of Scotland (sister body to the Parliament of Scotland) declared that James VII "had acted irregularly" by assuming regal power (government) "without ever taking the Coronation Oath required by Scots Law". Thus, he had "FOREFALTED [forfeited] the Right to the Scots Crown, and the Scots Throne is become vacant". This was a fundamental difference; if the Parliament of Scotland could decide James VII had "Forfaulted" his Scots throne by actions having, in the words of the "Claim of Right" act 1689 "Invaded the fundamentall Constitution of the Kingdome and altered it from a legall limited monarchy To ane arbitrary despotick power". "Scots monarchs derived legitimacy from the Convention of the Estates", later declared a Parliament of Scotland, not God, thus ending the principle of divine right of kings.
Enshrined in the Union with England Act 1707:
   The haill other acts of parliament relating thereto in prosecution of the Declaration of the Estates of this kingdom containing the "Claim of Right" bearing date the eleventh of aprile one thousand six hundred and eighty nine.
Conflict over control of the kirk between Presbyterians and Episcopalians and William's position as a fellow Calvinist put him in a much stronger position. He originally insisted on retaining Episcopacy, and the Committee of the Articles, an unelected body that controlled what legislation Parliament could debate. Both would have given the Crown far greater control than in England but he withdrew his demands due to the 1689–1692 Jacobite Rising.
William's attempts to have the Claim of Right amended were directed through the "Court faction" which began arguing from 1699 onwards that:
* The Convention of the Estates was not a parliament so the act did not really count as binding and
* the Convention of the Estates was a parliament and so parliament could just rewrite it.
A year and a half after William's death, the Parliament of Scotland "put a period on the end of that sentence" by passing an act which recognised the standing of the Convention of the Estates as a parliament in its own right and made it "high treason" to impugn its authority or to so much as suggest attempting to alter the Claim of Right.
Here is the Claim of Right understood and upheld for its secular constitutional provisions quite as much as for its religious provisions.
   Our sovereign lady, with advice and consent of the estates of parliament, ratites, approves and perpetually confirms the first act of King William and Queen Mary's parliament, dated 5 June 1689, entitled act declaring the meeting of the estates to be a parliament, and of new enacts and declares that the three estates then met together the said 5 June 1689, consisting of noblemen, barons and burghs, were a lawful and free parliament, and it is declared that it shall be "high treason" for any person to disown, quarrel or impugn the dignity and authority of the said Parliament. And further, the queen's majesty, with consent foresaid, statutes and declares that it shall be 'high treason' in any of the subjects of this kingdom to quarrel, impugn or endeavour by writing, malicious and advised speaking, or other open act or deed, to alter or innovate the Claim of Right or any article thereof.

### English perspective

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.
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 Parliament of Scotland, opposition was voiced by petitions from shires, burghs, presbyteries and parishes. The Convention of Royal Burghs claimed:
   we are not against an honourable and safe union with England, [... but] the condition of the people of Scotland, (cannot be) improved without a Scots Parliament.
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 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

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

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

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 one-third of Scottish industry. Continental linen industries could outcompete Scotland, and protectionist tariffs implemented by Scotland led to tariff wars as European countries closed their markets to Scotland. In this situation, England became the largest foreign market for Scottish linen; however, while the tariffs in place shielded Scotland from the much larger English industry, England also retaliated against them. This forced Scotland to seek economic alternatives. 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 the 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 Act of Security 1704, 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

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

Voting records for 16 January 1707 ratification of the Treaty of Union :
| Commissioner | 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 | Total Ayes | Total Ayes | Total Ayes | 106 |
| Total Noes | Total Noes | Total Noes | Total Noes | 69 |
| Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | 175 |
| Sources: Records of the Parliament of Scotland, Parliamentary Register, p.598 |||||