The Scots And The Union

This is a timely and groundbreaking new assessment of the Treaty of Union of 1707. As we approach the 300th Anniversary of the 1707 Treaty of Union between Scotland and England on 1st May, this book offers a radical new analysis of the Union. It traces the background to the Union, explains why it happened, and assesses its impact on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the Union. Christopher Whatley rejects the idea that the Scots were ‘bought and sold for English gold’. He looks more sympathetically at the Scottish politicians of the day and tries to uncover the ideas and principles that motivated them. He argues controversially that the Scots were not totally anti-Union and that they were not bribed and bullied into Union with England. Drawing on previously unused sources, the book argues that the Unionists were as patriotic as many of their opponents. The complex and shifting opinions of the Scottish people outside Parliament are also examined, as well as the effect this had on proceedings within.