United kingdom
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Comment by Michael Follon on January 5th, 2013 at 7:09 am
1. There is no mention in the entry concerning the Alien Act of 1705 –
‘1703-5 ANTECEDENTS OF THE TREATY OF UNION
…England retaliated in 1705 with the Alien Act, which declared that, until Scotland accepted the Hanoverian succession all Scots would be treated as aliens in England and the import of cattle, sheep, coal and linen from Scotland into England would not be allowed; this measure stimulated the Scots into appointing commissioners to treat for union.’
SOURCE: ‘Scottish Historical Documents’ by Professor Gordon Donaldson, p. 266, ISBN 1-897784-41-4.
2. The Acts of Union did NOT join Scotland and England. They were the ratifying instruments of the Treaty of Union in 1707 –
‘1706-7 THE ARTICLES OF UNION
Commissioners representing Scotland and England sat from 16 April 1706 to 22 July, when the Articles of Union were signed. The Articles were debated in the Scottish parliament from 3 October to 16 January 1707, when they were ratified with only minor changes. The English parliament then likewise adopted them, and they received the royal assent on 6 March.’
SOURCE: ‘Scottish Historical Documents’ by Professor Gordon Donaldson, pp. 268-269.
While Article I of the Treaty of Union states – ‘…be united into one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain…’ it goes on to refer, as well as many of the Articles, to the ‘United Kingdom’. In fact Article III states –
‘That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be represented by One and the same Parliament, to be stiled, the Parliament of Great Britain.’
The first official reference to the United Kingdom was therefore in 1707 NOT 1801.
Scottish saying: ‘Facts are chiels that winna ding.’ – ‘Facts cannot lie.’
Comment by John McQuistan on March 23rd, 2013 at 9:04 am
Paragraph 4 is inaccurate. In Scotland Church and State are separate. People in Scotland suffered persecution for maintaining that Jesus Christ, and not the monarch, is Head of the Church.
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on March 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am
Thank you, John, for your feedback. You are quite correct about the separation of church and state in Scotland, and hence the status of the church in the UK as a whole. The article will be revised to correct that inaccuracy.
Comment by Jennifer Tanabe on June 28th, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Thank you, Michael, for your comment. As it states in the article, the history of the formation of the United Kingdom is long and complex. In fact, to do it justice would require a separate article. You are correct about the Articles of Union of 1706 ratifying the Treaty of Union of 1707. That point has been added, as has more clear mention of the term United Kingdom in the 1707 documents. Thank you again for taking the time to help make NWE a valuable information resource.
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