In the final years before the Act of Union,1707, Scotland and England argued over royal succession and came to the brink of war.
After the death of King William III in 1702, his sister in law Anne became queen and for the next five years the questions of royal succession and parliamentary union between Scotland and England dominated the bitter debate between the two countries.
With the Queen’s 17 children all dying before the age of 11, it seemed unlikely that she would produce an heir.
The English Parliament (Westminster) in typical fashion had solved the problem to their satisfaction. They announced that the succession should be settled on Sophie of Hanover or her children.
They seemed unconcerned that the Scottish Parliament had not been consulted and was in no way bound by their decision. (Between 1603 and 1707 Scotland and England had one royal family based in London but separate parliaments).
In 1703, in a bold attempt to resist England’s choice of successor, member of the Scottish Parliament Andrew Fletcher who is today remembered simply as the Patriot proposed an Act of Security, “Furnishing independence free from English or any foreign influence.”
In essence the Act would allow the Scottish Parliament to choose a different monarch to succeed to the Scottish crown from that of England. It also meant that the Scots could follow their own independent foreign policy at a time when much of Europe was at war. Contained within the Act was a clause allowing all Scots to hold weapons.
It was a worrying time for the Westminster Government determined to push ahead with a Union unwanted by the vast majority of Scots.
Queen Anne was angry at this Scottish ‘declaration of independence’ and royal assent for the Act was refused.
Attempting to resolve the situation without bloodshed, the last of the Stuart monarchs (Anne) resorted to bribery and offered the Scots money.
An early example of this was Seton of Pitmedden who sold out to the Union cause for £100 a year.
The Act was proposed again the following year and England’s Treasurer (effectively First Minister) Godolphin advised the Queen to grant the royal assent.
English parliamentarians were furious and there was talk of war. They worried about a Jacobite backlash to a Hanovarian successor and of a new Scottish alliance with France.
They demanded that Scotland fall in line by Christmas of 1705 or face being subject to an Aliens Act. The Act's Draconian powers would treat Scots as aliens in England, making it illegal for them to inherit property there.
An embargo would also be placed on all Scottish products being exported south of the border. Such an embargo at that time would have devastated an already fragile Scottish economy.
In an effort to avoid such damaging measures, the Queen again asked the Edinburgh parliament to reconsider the succession, and to look at new proposals for Union, including the nomination of Commissioners to negotiate terms with Westminster.
The following two years would produce an array of proposals, counter proposals, examples of bribery and threats of war.
