Treaty of Union (1707)

The Treaty of Union refers to the joint actions of the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707 which brought about the union of the two previously independent countries to form what is now known as Great Britain.

The Treaty itself consisted of 25 articles which were considered and passed in succession by the Scottish Parliament in 1706-07, the final overall Act being passed on January 16, 1707 by a vote of 110 - 67. The Treaty went into effect on May 1 of that same year.

Provisions of the Treaty

Among the major provisions which the Treaty provided for were:

• an "incorporating" Union of the two countries, Scotland and England, into a single political entity, Great Britain;
• a settlement of the royal succession question involving an endorsement of the Hanoverian succession;
• free trade between the two countries and access to English colonies in the America's by Scotland for trade purposes;
• the payment of a sum of money to Scotland, called the Equivalent, which was a method of reimbursing investors in the failed Darien scheme; and
• religious freedom, guaranteeing the independence of the Church of Scotland.

Further reading

• Christopher A. Whatley and Derek J. Patrick, The Scots and the Union
• Michael Fry, The Union: England, Scotland, and the Treaty of 1707
• Neil Davidson, Discovering the Scottish Revolution, 1692-1746
• Scotland in the Age of Improvement, edited by N.T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison