The Scots and the Union
This book traces the background to the Treaty of Union of 1707, explains why it happened and assesses its impact on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. The book offers a radical new interpretation of the causes of union. The idea that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold' is largely rejected. Instead, emphasis is placed upon the international, dynastic and religious contexts in which the union was negotiated. The aggressive France of Louis XIV, the imagined threat posed by the church of Rome, and the real one represented by the Stuart pretender, loomed large in the consciousnesses of Scots who sought union. The principles of the Glorious Revolution, and the persistence from that time on of key political figures in Scotland in their determination to secure a treaty with England were crucial. Unionists too concerned themselves with Scotland's ailing economy, and aspired to the kind of civic society that Holland had become and that they saw in London. They were as patriotic as many of their opponents and believed that union offered the Scots what they were unable to obtain as a small independent state, with the country's interests defended with what John Clerk called Scotland's 'phantom' Parliament. The complex and shifting opinions of the Scottish people outside Parliament are also examined, as well as the effect this had on proceedings within. Key features: New controversial interpretation - challenges currently dominant view that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold', and bullied into union with England. Wide-ranging; topic coverage comprehensive - looks more widely at Scottish society and its economy, culture etc. than the competition Timely/topical: contemporary interest in this event in Scottish/British history, especially 2007
Electronic books
1 online resource (xv, 424 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, portraits
9780748628766, 9780748634705, 9780748672271, 9780748680290, 0748628762, 0748634703, 0748672273, 0748680292
77569969
Cover
COVER
Contents
Note on style and abbreviations
Plates
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction58; contrasting and changing receptions of the union of 1707
1 Issues44; debates and aims
2 Scotland under the union of the crowns to the Revolution of 168845;958; searching for the roots of union
3 Roots of union58; ambition and achievement and the aftermath of the Revolution
4 The 1690s58; a nation in crisis
5 8216;The most neglected if not opprest State in Europe8217;63; Confrontations and the search for compromise44; 170045;5
PLATES
6 Digging Scotland out58; Parliament and the reconstruction of the pathway towards union44; 170545;6
7 Paving the way58; the union commissioners and the hearts and minds of the people
8 8216;An affair of the greatest concern and import8217;58; the union Parliament and the Scottish nation
9 Union in the balance44; union accomplished
Appendix A Membership of the Council of Trade44; elected 1705 40;voting record for47;against the court in the thirty recorded divisions in the union Parliament44; 170645;741;
Bibliography
Last Page
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010
Alberta Government Library Access (Unlimited Concurrent Users) from EBSCO Academic Collection
www.vlebooks.com Connect to e-book
archive.org Free eBook from the Internet Archive
openlibrary.org Additional information and access via Open Library