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Portrait of The Act of Union 1707

History · Early modern

The Act of Union 1707

In force 1 May 1707

England and Scotland merged into the Kingdom of Great Britain

Two parliaments passed matching acts to give effect to a treaty negotiated in 1706, dissolving themselves into a single British Parliament at Westminster. England wanted the Protestant succession secured; Scotland, ruined by the Darien venture and shut out of English markets, wanted trade and compensation. It was voted through amid riots, and has been argued about ever since.

How to spot them

  • ▸1707: two kingdoms that had shared a monarch since 1603 merge their parliaments
  • ▸Quiz clue: 'Darien', 'the Equivalent', 'ane auld sang', 'parcel of rogues'
  • ▸Creates the Union Flag's kingdom, and leaves Scots law and the kirk untouched
  • ▸Passed by the parliaments in Edinburgh and Westminster, not by any popular vote

What happened

'Now there's ane end of ane auld sang' — a Lord Chancellor as Edinburgh's parliament rose for the last time (1707)

The Earl of Seafield, on adjourning the Scottish Estates

A disastrous colonial scheme at Panama that swallowed a fifth of Scotland's liquid capital (1698–1700)

An English act of 1705 threatening to treat Scots as aliens unless they negotiated

Passed in retaliation for Scotland's Act of Security, which reserved the right to choose a different monarch

A cash payment of £398,085 10s sent north to settle debts and compensate investors

Managing it eventually gave rise to the Royal Bank of Scotland

Burns on 'such a parcel of rogues in a nation'

His song 'Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation' (1791), on the men who voted it through

45 members and 16 representative peers sent south to a new parliament

A far smaller share than Scotland's population warranted, but more than its tax yield

Scots law, the Court of Session and the Presbyterian kirk all expressly preserved

Which is why Scotland still has its own legal system and its own established church

Quick-fire facts

  • •The two statutes are the Union with Scotland Act 1706, passed at Westminster, and the Union with England Act 1707, passed in Edinburgh
  • •Both gave effect to the Treaty of Union, agreed by commissioners on 22 July 1706
  • •The union took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain
  • •The crowns had already been united in 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England
  • •England's overriding aim was to bind Scotland to the Hanoverian succession set out in the Act of Settlement 1701
  • •Scotland gained free trade with England and its colonies; Scottish merchants soon dominated the Glasgow tobacco trade
  • •The Equivalent was £398,085 10s, partly compensating Darien investors and partly offsetting Scotland's new share of English debt
  • •Article 1 created the single kingdom; the flag combining the crosses of St George and St Andrew became its ensign
  • •There were riots in Edinburgh and Glasgow against it; the Jacobite risings of 1708, 1715 and 1745 drew on the resentment
  • •A Scottish Parliament was re-established, devolved rather than sovereign, only in 1999

Drill it — 10 cards

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Sources