The Treaty of Union is the name given to the agreement that led to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801. It was created by the merger of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, under the Acts of Union 1707, to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great,[1] the political union A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a common government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity. A political union may also be called a legislative union or state union of England (including Wales) and Scotland, that took effect on 1 May 1707. The details of the Treaty were agreed on 22 July 1706,[2] leading to Acts of Union The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of being passed by the separate parliaments of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws. In 1215, the tenants-in-chief secured Magna Carta and Scotland The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early twelfth century, with a meeting occurring around 1140 at Edinburgh Castle, and the first meeting for which a primary source survives was at Kirkliston (a.
The idea of uniting the two sovereign states had been around since the Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, thus uniting Scotland and England under one monarch. This followed the death of his unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I was Queen regnant of England and Queen regnant of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half. Three previous attempts to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, in 1606, 1667, and 1689 were unsuccessful, though the political and economic circumstances at the start of the 18th century were such that the political establishments supported the idea, though it was deeply unpopular among the Scottish population at large.[3]
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Details of the Treaty
The Treaty consisted of 25 articles.[4]
Article 1 provided for the new United Kingdom to be named Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801. It was created by the merger of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, under the Acts of Union 1707, to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great.
Article 2 provided for the succession of the House of Hanover The House of Hanover is a Germanic royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (German: Braunschweig-Lüneburg), the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland. It succeeded the House of Stuart as monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714 and held that office until the death of Victoria in, and for Protestant succession as set out in the English Act of Settlement The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England, originally filed in 1700, and passed in 1701, to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover—a granddaughter of James I—and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of.
Article 3 provide for the creation of the one, unified, parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland. The Acts created a new unified Kingdom of Great Britain and dissolved the separate English and Scottish parliaments in favour of a single parliament, located in the former home of the.
Articles 4–18 dealt with aspects of trade, movement, taxes, regulation etc to ensure equal treatment for all subjects In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981 of the new United Kingdom. Article 16 required the introduction of a common currency An economic and monetary union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a single market with a common currency. It is to be distinguished from a mere currency union , which does not involve a single market. This is the fifth stage of economic integration. EMU is established through a currency-related trade pact for Great Britain, subsequently effected through the 1707-1710 Scottish recoinage The coinage of Scotland covers currency issued under a variety of local and national rulers, including the Kingdom of Scotland. For coins circulating in Scotland since the Act of Union with England in 1707, see coins of the pound sterling.
Article 19 provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system Scots law is a unique legal system which has roots in various different sources of law. Up until the mid-tenth century, the law in Scotland was almost certainly Celtic, but after that point, feudal and canon law gradually took over. On succeeding to the throne in 1124, King David I introduced elements of Anglo-Norman laws and legal institutions,.
Article 20 provided for the protection of heritable offices, superiorities, heritable jurisdictions, offices for life, and jurisdictions for life after the union.
Article 21 provided for the protection of the rights of royal burghs A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs.
Article 22 provided for Scotland representation in the Parliament of Great Britain to be 16 Lords and 45 MPs.
Article 23 provided for Scotland's peers to have the same rights as English peers in any trials of peers.
Article 24 provided for the creation of a new Great Seal The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the monarch's approval of important state documents. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to make official for the United Kingdom, different from the Great Seal of England (but that the English one could be used until it was created.)
Article 25 provides that all laws of either Kingdom that may be inconsistent with the Articles in the Treaty are to be declared void.
Further reading
- Harris, Bob. "The Anglo Scottish Treaty of Union, 1707 in 2007: Defending the Revolution, Defeating the Jacobites," Journal of British Studies Jan. 2010, Vol. 49, No. 1: 28-46.
References
- ^ Welcome parliament.uk, accessed 7 October, 2008
- ^ www.parliament.uk
- ^ Scottish Referendums BBC News, accessed 23 October 2008
- ^ The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706, Scots History Online
External links
- The Treaty of Union, the Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Members are elected for four-year
- at the Parliamentary Archives
- Image of the Treaty of Union courtesy of the National archives of Scotland, published by the Scottish Council on Archives
Categories: 1706 treaties | 1706 in England | 1706 in Scotland | Treaties of England | Treaties of Scotland | 1707 treaties
UKIP
Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:28:11 GM
meaning that both the Council of the European . Union. , and the European Parliament, would need to approve reform proposals, according to the voting rules and procedures in the relevant . treaty. provisions; most particularly Articles 231 ...
