| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
While there had been three earlier attempts to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, these were the first Acts which had the will of both political establishments behind them, albeit for rather different reasons. In the English case, the purpose was to establish the Royal succession along Protestant lines in the same manner as provided for by the English Act of Settlement rather than that of the Scottish Act of Security. In the Scottish case, the purpose was partly to use English subsidies to recover from the financial problems caused by the failure of the Darién scheme and partly to remove English trade sanctions put in place through the Alien Act to force the Scottish Parliament into compliance with the Act of Settlement.
The Acts of Union were not universally popular in Scotland, particularly amongst the general population. Many petitions were sent to the Scottish Parliament against union, and there were massive protests in Edinburgh the day it was signed. Many historians have since argued that the Scots Parliamentarians were coerced into signing up for union by English bribery.
The Act incorporated provisions for Scotland to send representative peers from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of LordsThis article is about the British House of Lords. See also the historical Irish House of Lords. The House of Lords is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the British House of Commons. The House of Lor. It guaranteed that the Church of ScotlandThe Church of Scotland is the national (established) church in Scotland. It does not regard itself as a " state church", having fought for centuries to prevent government interference in its affairs. It is commonly known as the Kirk ( Scots for church . would remain the established church in Scotland, and that the Court of SessionThe Court of Session is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal and sits exclusively in Parliament House in Edinburgh. The Sheriff Court is the other Scottish civil court; this sits locally. Although would remain. It also established that the flag of Great Britain would be based on the Flag of EnglandThe Flag of England The Flag of England is the cross of Saint George. The legend of Saint George slaying the dragon dates from the 12th century and Saint George became England's patron saint in the 13th century. The red cross appeared in the crusades and and Flag of ScotlandThe national flag of Scotland features a white saltire, a Crux decussata (X-shaped cross) representing the cross of the Christian martyr Saint Andrew (Scotland's patron saint) on a blue field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned Azure, a saltire arge; the exact design of the Flag of Great Britain was adopted later.
Other provisions included to restate the Act of Settlement and the ban on Roman Catholics from taking the throne. It created a customs union and monetary union.
The treaty provided that if any 'laws and statutes' were 'contrary to or inconsistent with the terms' of the Treaty; that they would be null and void. This has not been held to prevent the Parliament of the United Kingdom from amending the Act.
The Kingdom of Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801, through the Act of Union 1800. The United Kingdom shrank a little in 1922 when most of Ireland left to become the Irish Free State.