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The response of the Scottish Parliament was to pass a bill in 1703, requiring that on the death of Queen Anne without issue, the three Estates of the Parliament were to appoint a Protestant successor from the descendants of the Scottish kings, but not the English successor unless various economic, political and religious conditions were met. The bill was refused Royal Assent by the Queen's Commissioner.

The following year 1704 the bill became an Act after the Scottish Parliament refused to raise taxes and sought to withdraw troops from the Duke of Marlborough's army in the War of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession ( 1702 1713) was a European war; the North American portion of this war was Queen Anne's War. The war was fought over the European balance of power; the Spanish King Charles II had willed his kingdom to Philip V, a grands unless Royal Assent was given.

The English Parliament retaliated with the 1705 Alien Act, threatening to cut tradeTrade centers on the exchange of goods and/or services. Exchanges may take place between two parties (bilateral trade) or amongst more than two parties (multilateral trade). In its original form trade necessarily used barter and the exchange of goods and and free movement between the two countries, unless negotiations opened leading either to the repeal of the Act of Security, or (as in the event happened) to the Act of UnionThe Acts of Union were twin Acts of Parliament passed in 1707 (going into effect on 26 March) in the Scottish and the English Parliaments. The effect was twofold: to create a new Kingdom of Great Britain (though the name was used on occasion since 1604 to in 1707. The end result was the Union of England and Scotland into Great BritainGreat Britain (often abbreviated as Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales,, approximately one hundred years after the Union of the Crowns.