1603 - Union of the Crowns
Until the early 17th century England and Scotland were two entirely independent kingdoms.
This changed in 1603 on the death of Elizabeth I of England. Because the Queen had died
unmarried and childless, the English crown passed to the next available heir, her cousin
James VI, King of Scotland. England and Scotland now shared the same monarch under
what was known as a union of the crowns.
A commission of English and Scottish MPs was set up in October 1604 to consider how a
perfect union might be created. James was quick to grasp that it could not be achieved
overnight, and that only modest steps should be taken at first.
But the idea of the unification of the laws, parliaments and economies of both kingdoms met
with little enthusiasm at Westminster.
The commissioners' recommendations were debated long and hard at Westminster between
November 1606 and July 1607. Although there was agreement on the repeal of hostile laws
against the Scots, there was none on union. Acts of Parliament attempting to unite the two
countries failed in 1606, 1667, and 1689.
James accepted defeat on the issue, but never forgave the English Parliament, describing it
as "barren by preconceived opinions".
In October 1604 he decreed that he would in future be known by the style and title of King of
Great Britain and not by the divided names of England and Scotland.
In 1606 he gave orders for a British flag to be created which bore the combined crosses of
St George and of St Andrew. The result was the Union Jack, Jack being a shortening of
Jacobus, the Latin version of James.
1695: Bank of scotland is founded
Bank of Scotland was founded by an Act of the Scottish Parliament on 17th July 1695. It is
Scotland's first and oldest bank, and post-dates the Bank of England by just one year.
The Bank was set up primarily to develop Scotland's trade, mainly with England and the Low
Countries (Netherlands and Belgium and Luxembourg.)
1707: Treaty of the Union:
The Treaty of the Union is the treaty that led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain,
meaning that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of
Scotland were united into one Kingdom.
Context:
James I - House of Stuart
Charles I - House of Stuart
Monarchy was abolished - Commonwealth of England rules
Monarchy restored - Charles II - House of Stuart
James I died on the 27th March 1625, and the British crown was passed to his son Charles
I.
Charles I believed in the divine right of kings, meaning that he believed that he had been
chosen by God and he was his representative on Earth, and had absolute power and could
do as he liked. He expected complete obedience from the people he ruled. He also tried to
control both the government and the church. Many of his subjects disapproved of his views
and policies, especially when he introduced ship money without parliamentary consent,
which was a tax raised to provide money for ships for the navy. His religious policies,
coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic were really looked down upon by certain
religious groups such as English Puritans and Scottish Covenantors, who thought his views
too Catholic.
English Civil War
Charles I was executed
Monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established as a republic.
Oliver Cromwell first lord protector
Richard Cromwell second lord protector
Monarchy restored - Charles II on the throne
James II - Charles II’s brother succeeds after Charles II dies. He is the last Catholic British
monarch. His reign is primarily remembered for conflicts over religious tolerance, but it also
involved struggles over the principles of absolutism and the divine right of kings. People
didn’t approve of the fact he was Catholic. When James’ son was born, people got even
more angry as this increased the likelihood of creating a Roman Catholic monarchy, as he
became the next heir to the throne and excluded James’ Protestant daughter Mary and her
husband William III of Orange from the line of succession. This caused the Glorious
Revolution, an attempt to bring back Protestantism in Britain, and because of all the
anti-catholic protests in both England and Scotland, it was believed that the only way to
prevent a Civil War was to just remove James II from the throne. Senior lords invited James’
son-in-law William, Prince of Orange to claim the British throne, replace James and save the
country from any more religious and political disputes. William accepted the invite, and
began planning his invasion. When William arrived in England, James, instead of leading an
army to fight William, returned to London and secured the safety of his wife and son by
sending them to France, and then fled himself. However, he was discovered in Faversham,
around 50 miles from London, and captured by some fishermen on the lookout for Catholic
fugitives. He was sent back to London and placed under guard by William’s soldiers.
However, he escaped again and never returned. Because he ran away, he gave up his
position as King, and William of Orange and Mary were offered to rule jointly. The Bill of
Rights 1689 and Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Catholics from the English and British
thrones.
William and Mary were both King and Queen until Mary died in December 1694, and William
continued ruling until his own death in 1702.
After his death, because he and Mary produced no children, Mary’s sister Anne succeeded
the throne.
Anne dies - House of Stuart dies also, because the only relative she had was James Francis
Edward Stuart, but he was a Catholic, so he was excluded from the throne.
George I succeeds Anne as her closest living protestant relative. He is the first monarch
from the house of Hanover.
1715: Jacobite Uprising
The Jacobites are a group of people who supported the House of Stuart. Some Jacobites
fought for personal gain in the hope that they would benefit by a change of monarch. Others
fought for political reasons such as the dissolution of the union of the crowns of Scotland and
England.
The Episcopalian Church needed help from the Stuarts to restore its position as the Church
of Scotland after it was marginalised by the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
The Jacobites were supposed to get help from the French, (there were a few reasons for
this: the French king liked the Stuarts. They were Roman Catholic just like he was.
● The Stuarts were Scottish and Scotland had been good friends with France for
hundreds of years
● The French King thought that the Stuarts were the true kings of England and
Scotland – not Protestant Germans!
● If the Jacobites started a rebellion, the British would have to send troops to fight
them. This would mean there would be fewer British soldiers fighting the French!
● If the Jacobites won France would have a good friend as the new King of Britain. The
Stuarts would probably fight with France rather than against it.)
however the French King Louis XIV died just days before the Jacobite rebellion. Now without
the aid of a major European power, the Jacobite movement was significantly weakened.
Nonetheless, on the 6th September raised James’s flag at Braemar, and the Jacobite
rebellion had begun.
In a battle lasting 2 days, the Jacobites were defeated, mainly because of their lack of
support from the French, poor strategic direction and poor leadership.
1745: Second Jacobite Uprising:
Charles Edward Stuart, son of James Francis Edward Stuart, who was excluded from the
throne after Queen Anne died, and grandson of James II tried to regain the British crown that
he believed belonged to his family so he led another Jacobite rebellion.
Following several battles, the final encounter took place at Culloden Moor, four miles east of
Inverness, on the 16th of April 1746. The Jacobite army of 5,000 Highlanders faced a
government force of 9,000 commanded by the King's younger son, William, Duke of
Cumberland.
Lord George Murray – supporter of the Young Pretender and one of his commanders - had
argued for a guerrilla campaign, but Charles Edward took command himself and chose to
give battle on poor, marshy terrain.
When the Jacobites began their charge they were met by a hail of cannon and musket fire,
and within half an hour many were massacred. Some 2,000 were killed and another 1,000
taken prisoner.
Home Rule Movement:
Home rule is when a colony, dependent nation, or territory is governed by its own people.
A key element in this movement was the comparison with Ireland.
The initial movement expanded its political reach and soon started to gain support from the
Liberal Party.The positions of the Scottish Office and the Secretary for Scotland were
reinstated in 1885 to promote Scotland's interests and express its concerns to the UK
Parliament. In 1886, Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone introduced the Irish Home
Rule Bill. However, it was turned down in the House of Commons.
Before World War I, the Liberal government of H. H. Asquith backed the idea of "Home Rule
all round," which meant that both Ireland and Scotland could be ruled by their own people.
Both Ireland and Scotland then proceeded to introduce their Home Rule bills in 1913 and
1914, but they didn't get very far because of the focus on emergency measures required by
the First World War.
After the First World War, Ireland rebelled in the Easter Rising, and fought a War of
Independence. Scotland did not do the same, they did not challenge the authorities or rebel
against them.
1950- Stone of Destiny is stolen
Stone of Destiny is an ancient symbol of Scotland, which was seized by King Edward I of
England in 1296.
Ever since that time it was used for the coronation of British monarchs, therefore it is
commonly referred to in England as the Coronation Stone.
On 25 December 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow (Ian Hamilton,
Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster
Abbey in London and took it back to Scotland.
The reason for this theft was that they wanted to promote the idea of Scottish Independence.
1967: Winnie Ewing unexpectedly won the 1967 election. When Winnie Ewing unexpectedly
won the 1967 Hamilton by-election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) gained its second-ever
member in the House of Commons. Previously a Labour Party seat, the SNP's victory
elevated them to a position of national importance and paved the way for Edward Heath's
Declaration of Perth of 1968 and the creation of the Kilbrandon Commission.
In his speech known as "The Declaration of Perth," British Conservative Party leader Edward
Heath pledged the party's support for some kind of Scottish devolution. (Devolution allows
decisions to be made at a more local level. )
(The Kilbrandon Commission was a royal commission, to look into the structures of the
United Kingdom and the British Islands' constitution and to determine whether any changes
should be made. It began on 15 April 1969 under Lord Crowther, and was taken over by Lord
Kilbrandon in 1972. Different devolution, federalism, and confederalism models were
contemplated, along with the possibility of dividing the UK into independent sovereign
states.
1979- first devolution referendum
In order to determine if the Scottish voters would approve a Scottish Assembly as suggested
in the Scotland Act of 1978, a post-legislative referendum was held in Scotland in 1979. The
act was intended to establish an independent parliamentary body for Scotland.
The supporters of Scottish Independence were divided; some wanted devolution as they
saw it as the first step towards independence, while others thought it would do anything but
reach that goal.
Despite the fact that the Act received support from the majority of the voters, the provisions
were not implemented because of a modification to the Act provided that it would be
abolished if less than 40% of voters voted in favour. The "Yes" vote only gained 32.9% of the
registered electorate due to only 64% of Scotland participating, and so the act was revoked.
1997: Second devolution referendum:
Scotland was faced with two questions in the devolution referendum of September 11,
1997.These were; Should there be a Scottish Parliament and should that body have the
power to raise or lower taxes?
During this referendum, Scottish Independence supporters were still divided; among those
who wanted to go straight for independence and therefore vote “No” for devolution, while
others who thought that they needed to take small steps first in order to reach their final goal,
and therefore voting “Yes” to devolution.
Two campaign groups were formed for the referendum: 'Scotland Forward' and 'Think
Twice'.(Scotland Forward were the people who wanted to go straight for independence,
while the Think Twice people wanted to think twice about making such a big step first
because it might fail and they’ll regret it later, whereas if they voted “Yes” for devolution, even
if things did fail later on in gaining independence, then at least Scotland would have their
own parliamentary body.)
An overwhelming majority, 74.3% of those who voted, wanted the parliament.
A slimmer majority, of 63.4%, approved plans for the parliament to be given tax-varying
powers.
It brought to an end almost 300 years of total government from Westminster, with the
parliament created in 1999.
2014 Independence Referendum:
On the 18th September 2014, Scotland was asked “Should Scotland be independent?” “once in a generation decision”
55% voted “No” while 45% voted “Yes”
There is considerable evidence that the NO vote was particularly strong among the
middle classes and among affluent pensioners. Some commentators have argued
that it was especially noticeable among those who would see themselves as being
relatively ‘comfortable’.
The key reason as to why people voted “No” was because they were afraid of the economic
instability that might come with independence.
Another key reason as to why the majority voted “No” was because Scotland had been part
of the UK for 307 years, meaning it would be impossible to just detach from them that
quickly. There is still a strong attachment to some institutions, such as the NHS and welfare
state.
The fear of job loss in the oil and gas industries, and in the defence sectors, for example in
shipyards on the Clyde, and at Rosyth on the River Forth in Fife, which are now entirely
dependent on orders from the Royal Navy.
Proposed 2023 independence referendum:
On September 18, 2014, a referendum on independence was held for the first time, and 55%
of voters rejected it. Voting Yes would be a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a
different path, and choose a new and better direction for our nation," according to the
Scottish Government's white paper for independence.
Following the “No” vote, the Scotland Act was passed in 2016, which modified The Scotland
Act of 1998 and more authority is given to Scotland as a result. A second independence
referendum should be called if there is a material change in circumstances, such as the UK
exiting the European Union, according to the pro-independence Scottish National Party. In
June 2022, Sturgeon announced plans to hold a referendum on 19 October 2023. UK Prime
Minister Boris Johnson rejected Sturgeon's request to hold a referendum in July 2022.