Overview of Treaty of Union

The Treaty of Union, which brought administrative union of Scotland and England, was enacted on the 26th March. The parliaments of both countries were to be dissolved, to be replaced by a new United Kingdom parliament. However Scotland's much smaller size ensured its representation was in a minority and English priorities prevailed. Although many nobles supported the Union, hoping for recompense for their losses in the Darien Farce, the announcement of its signing was met with riots in Edinburgh and bred support in the Highlands for the Jacobites.

However, Scotland's economy did benefit; trade with the Americas was now possible, bringing, for example, the rise of the tobacco lords in Glasgow, the dawn of the Clyde as an industrial and shipbuilding centre and the Scots proved excellent colonial administrators, gaining them a significant role in the running of the British Empire.