What Made Britain Unite? | The Union of the Crowns and the Acts of Union Explained
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- The four nations of the UK are completely distinct, so why do they make up one United Kingdom?
The Union of the Crowns brought England (which ruled over Ireland) and Scotland, former rivals, under the control of one king, but the House of Stuart was never able to fully unify their domains. That all changed when Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army conquered all of the British Isles for the English Commonwealth and unified England, Scotland, and Ireland for the first time in history. Cromwell's republic wouldn't last though and the Stuarts returned to power in 1660. Over the next century and a half, through two sets of Acts of Union, the British Isles would unite once again.
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So, who caught the reference at 5:07? Be honest!
If you enjoyed this video you might want to know why England exists at all! Find out more about the life of Alfred the Great, here: czcams.com/video/gAv8I80No80/video.html
Stay safe!
Look Back History new sub here, keep up the good work and you’ll will get more and more subs as time goes on
@@wattsnottaken1 THanks!
No😔
Is it a Super Mario reference?
@@QuizzersTV Star Wars, but good guess!
As a Scot it was really interesting to revisit the history of my country. Really interesting.
I'm glad. I actually have a little bit more Scottish content planned.
I shall look forward to it.
Yeah you Frenchman lover!! 😱😁
@@maryking2712 google glencoe massacre. Pretty much explains it all.
Scotland like England is a FORMER country/nation!!
And people always wonder why the Irish hate Cromwell! This is explained so well, thanks! Been waiting for this one!! Man what a complicated history.
Yep, he very much deserves the hate he gets!
@@LookBackHistory In History class at Ponteland Community Middle School I was very disturbed by the fact that I seemed to be the only one who regarded Cromwell as a villain.
Cromwell's a pretty interesting historical figure aside from that though. He's like one of the most reluctant dictators in history. He knew how to unite the isles through military force and behead kings, but he was no political theorist and didn't really know what he wanted to come after. But he sure did know what he DIDN'T want. On the one hand, you had Long Parliament which wanted to restore a constitutional monarchy, which he felt would betray the whole point of the civil war. On the other hand, you had Levellers along with the rank-and-file of the New Model Army advocating the "good old cause" wanting to replace the monarchy altogether with a full democracy, which Cromwell didn't like either since he saw that as just mob rule. And then he had his own loyalist generals and the rubber stamp "rump parliament" who wanted to make HIM the new king, which for obvious reasons he didn't want to be the very thing he destroyed. So his "dictatorship" as Lord Protector was a sort of compromise for an infant unstable government that had no idea what it was gonna do with itself. Functionally a king, but not naming himself a king. Called itself a republic, but not one where any political opposition could voice itself through democratic means. A regime that spent its entire existence trying to legitimize itself when even the regime didn't view itself as legitimate.
These videos are so good it's just mind boggling that you are getting no views. Keep grinding king you'll get big in the future for sure.
Thanks, its comments like this that make it worth it!
I applaud your historical insight on my country (Ireland).
Fair play for your research.
Now you need to wait and add Brexit to the mix and see whether the UK exiting the EU will be a success story or an utter failure, resulting in the UK dissolving from it.
Us Irish are looking on with each passing day.
Thanks, I'm glad you approve.
Unfortunately, Brexit won't begin to be history in my book for another 16 years, so it will be a rather long wait!
The Irish are obsessed with Brexit, they don’t stop talking about it for some strange reason
@@kjdempsey Maybe because it divides the island even more but idk.
@@aodhanmorris3410 Might be cause those of us the Irish actually have something in common with voted relatively strongly against it. Northern Ireland just has to want to be in the EU more than the UK and they can be, a bit more complicated for us Scottish though.
@@kjdempsey Irish are petty
Thanks for uploading.
you deserve way more views great video
Thanks! Feel free to check out any others!
@@LookBackHistory alright
The Isle of Man kinda just chilling in the middle, minding its own business
Yep
Yes its one of numerous islands used for off shore banking .
The City of London Corporation ( aka the Square Mile ) is one of the World's financial Capitals with all its International investment banks . The London Stock Exchange is one block north of St. Paul's and all around there are these international investment banks and their ultra high speed algorithmic trading .
Here is a real eye opener documentary explaining this - the spider's web
czcams.com/video/np_ylvc8Zj8/video.html
.
Very good! A very nice video about the Union.
Fraud of a union
Interesting, but oversimplification of the 1707 Act of Union of the Parliament's.
The Darien mission was a privately funded Scots enterprise, partially destroyed by poor planning and logistics but ruined by the English government's blockade of Scottish ports and refusal to assist in the developing medical emergency in New Caledonia.
In the years prior to 1707, Scots were classed as aliens in England, preventing the inheritance of property in England by their descendants, Scottish sheep, cows, pigs and fish (and by-products) were subject to high duties (import and tax), threatening the livelihoods of many Scots.
As for the oft parroted Scottish bankruptcy: At the time of the 1707 union Scottish national debt was estimated to be around £160-180,000...the English national debt was estimated to be around £8.3-8.6Million: more than 40 times higher (even allowing for the 10:1 population ratio that's 4 times higher per head) if anyone was bankrupt, it was England!
To add insult to injury, the Scots parliament was made up of titled landowners, many of whom were in debt from the above mentioned Darien mission and aliens act. These were unobtrusively paid to clear the debts or outright paid to vote for the Union of the Parliament's...for a contemporary take on this state of affairs look up Rabbie Burns eponymous "Parcel o' Rogue's"..."bought and sold for English gold, sic a parcel o' Rogue's in a nation "
This was a great lesson in what is the UK👍☺
Thanks, glad you thought so!
@@LookBackHistory You're welcome. I run into a lot of people from the UK on here so it's good to know more about their home☺
You missed so much about the Darien scheme and the Act of Union. Not even mentioning the Scottish Claim of Right. Tut tut...
Odd to think this video is almost half a decade old
I believe it's called extortion there is no other reason Scotland would consider it. The people had no say in it.
Ordinary people have had no say in virtually anything until the last century or so.
@@LookBackHistory yeah but they literally bribed parliament
Darn them Chewders to heck
the Union owed its birth to a Treaty entered into by Queen Anne as head of state of her separate Kingdoms of England and Scotland. In other words, the Treaty was not concluded by the Parliaments of England and Scotland, although legislative acts of each Parliament followed the conclusion by Queen Anne of that Treaty.
David Walker, Regius Professor Emeritus of Law
in the University of Glasgow, 2007
Th two governments had no real option but agree with Queen Anne's prerogative
At the time of “Union” Scotland’s debt was £160,000 while England’s was £18 million.
But England had a much larger GDP at that time and wasn't in financial straits.
@@richiestyles5143 it was though, due to war with Spain
@@davidlittle7182 Yeah but they could call upon a much larger amount of money even in dire times, that was always their advantage, England had a very reliable system for taxing their subjects where as in Scotland we had the Clans stopping effective taxing and banks weren't as helpful to the crown/governments as other Europeans, it's another big reason why they were so competitive with France despite being like half the population back in the day, the French had to deal with all the powerful Dukes and Counts that didn't really matter in England in the same way.
@@danielmacpherson8487 I can understand this, but it's not even close to 'they annexed so one could take care of the other's debt'
@@davidlittle7182 i think it was less the debt and more that Scotland didnt have enough money left/coming in to actually be a country anymore, having lost much of it in the darien scheme (Panama) to a shipwreck i believe, and the money that did make it there never made it back... or the people.
There should have been a Commonwealth of Britain, a federation of states/provinces that would have been much fairer than the London-centrist control of the UK by England....
The Isle of Man would have been the perfect location for the parliament of the British Isles
Great Video - But think its important to remember that the British Peoples migrated and invaded from all over Europe .
From the Roman Empire right up to the Vikings ( Norway , Danes and Swedes ) .
To point out , the stereo type that the English are " Anglo Saxons Protestants " is highly exaggerated - especially since the Anglo Saxons were Catholics and the Normans took over in 1066 .
The Norman and Plantagenet nobility held court in a dialect of Normandy French for the next 300 years .
.
You have missed out the effects of the Aliens Act and the fact that England was in debt to the extent of £18 million pounds to Scotland's debt of £160,000.
And what was the effect of that? Englands economy was still doing well compared to Scotland.
@@maxdavis7722 coercion?
37,600th viewer of this video!
Is there any acrimony between England and the Scots/Irish today?
Yes.
@@LookBackHistory I figured. Thanks for the great video!
Not really, we just want our country back 🏴
@@Fernandwinnie you have your own country
Oh no. None whatsoever. ¬¬.
Irish nationalism is completely understandable due to the horrors they went through. However Scottish nationalism makes no sense to me. They weren't conquered and Britain became a super power after they united and worked together. It makes far more sense for a united Britain. Surely an independent Scotland would be far weaker if they went alone. England is by far the financial and political powerhouse of the UK.
All the previous history prior to being he union is England attempting to take over Scotland. What isn’t mentioned in this is how the union was forced on Scotland by bankrupting the nation through a blockade where the English navy attacked Scottish merchant ships meaning no trade in or out. Also the highland clearances where thousands of Scottish people were kicked of their land by newly appointed English landlords and forced to migrate from their homeland. The union benefited Scotland greatly as we had the British empire, but we no longer have the empire and Scotland is no longer benefiting being run by London. We have our Scottish government, who have since it’s foundation have done a much better job of running out own affairs then previously by westminister. In today’s day in age why would you want to be a powerhouse, many smaller nations (Nordic countries) do an excellent job of running independently with a similar population and economy as Scotland. Scottish nationalism is purely about trying to improve the lives of Scottish people. By having the extra powers for our government we can choose what’s best for us, and the fact we don’t have any say on major issues bothers us. England is obviously the powerhouse of the UK because of its population, but should that mean every country should join a larger one? Absolutely not as each country has their own needs, and those needs will be rejected by the larger country.
why isn't Denmark part of Germany?
Completely agree with pen is. Scotland went through just as many horrors. We were conquered by England and still are... that's exactly why we are only aloud to deal with dissolved matters for our country. Look at brexit fir a slight example we as a country (Scotland) voted to remain in the EU but were dragged out against our will. Alot of people are starting to realise this and are now supporting an independent Scotland
Saor alba
Also, England literally invaded Scotland regularly for over 400 years, it's just that Scotland fared better than Ireland or Wales in repelling it. They literally invaded in 1650 and occupied Scotland for 10 years, which was at most 40 years before the coercion and bribery started
Within 3 years!
What about Wales. It just spwaned or wtf
Man you stopped uploading or something? Or you taking a break? Don't pull a sam o'nella on us.
I don't know who that is, but I'll be back! I've just been adjusting to university life; it's taken A LOT of time I used to use for videos away.
Hopefully, I'll release on Friday, might get pushed back to Monday though.
@@LookBackHistory Ok good to know you're still alive.
Btw sam o'nella did History videos that were extremely funny. I was a great fan. Than one day he stopped, haven't heard from him since.
Bro what about Cornwall
Part of England then, part of England now. Culturally interesting, but politically irrelevant.
Although that was hard to follow, I now know the difference between all 3 countries. I did not know the difference between UK and England, ...
Wales come back:-(
Cymru (Wales) was invaded and incorporated into England, Scotland forced into 'Union' and placed under military occupation, Ireland was invaded bit by bit, attempts made to anialate the population up until the 1920's, something Churchill thought a good idea. Attempts made to eradicate our native languages by flogging our children between 1870 and 1934 when the last gaelic speaking child was flogged! The is not a 'Union of Equals' but one of enforced and continued occupation save for most of Ireland who won her freedom by armed struggle one hundred years ago!
Well looking at the situation in 2024 ,there is a desperate transition going on here on both islands,and there's a seismic shift going on here.By General Election time the Conservative Government of 14 years, of Brexit, of Covid 19 disaster and the failure of the Pork,Lettuce & Kipper revolution has failed. Labour desperate to win back Scotland 🏴 without there could be a hung parliament. In Ireland lots of change too looks like Sinn Fein may be in the majority first time since 1918 and the Pro Brexit DUP might be heading to Rwanda 🇷🇼 if the public have their say,Brexit has really strength the RRepublic of Ireland 🇮🇪 inside the EU 🇪🇺 only problem there is housing and immigration an issue Ireland has not had to deal with since the Vikings, Plantations and Famine. With major changes and a growth in population interesting times in Ireland, as for Scotland it's at a crossroads here ,where to belong, England or EU , lots of unanswered questions the United Kingdom has never been in more jeprody...clearly divisions were always there but that One Nation was always a historic myth, Angles & Geals are not the same but the multiracial factor comes in now, great change is on the way Unionism is on the way out finally.
England had to much debt and if it grew population by combing the kingdoms into one they could shrink the debt
I don't think that was the reason. They wanted to fight France without a 2nd front opening
One of the factors for the first act of union was Scottish national debt due to failed colonialism. Uniting the countries didn’t result in less debt.
Good videa but I see you conveniently missed out the bit of English troops on the border and large bribes to force the Scottish nobles to sign the act and the subsequent peasent revolts.
Also I'll find the sources but some acedemics have concluded that why scotlands economy was down it was recovering and given time scotland would have flourished again.
It's sad to know the weight of English Unionist opinion means this truth is omitted from history
@@davidlittle7182 it's not truth, it's just a theory. Historians can't agree on any of those things, so I think it was correct to omit it in this video.
@@AfternoonLemon the coercion of Scotland intended on bringing its economy to its knees isn't a theory, so why omit the facts we do know, like the Squadrone Volante being bribed? Or the Aliens Act? Or England's own (huge) debt at the time that Scotland had to to help service?
@@davidlittle7182 the economy was already on its knees as England's economy was growing. The late 17th century was grim for Scotland but that's not England's fault. As for England's debt, well, you must know that in simple terms debt isn't bad if you're well placed economically. Much like being £100k in debt looks bad for an individual, until you consider that it's a mortgage and the individual is well off. England, and going forward the UK, were very well off until this day.
@@AfternoonLemon yes, it seems like you haven't heard of the Alien Act. The counterpoint is that much of it actually was England's fault as England had move from a strategy of (5 centuries of) military coercion to that of political and economical coercion. Daniel Defoe was an actual spy and agent provocateur, trying to force Union.
Why bribe the Scottish Parliament if everything was above board?
You will also have heard of 'The Equivalent' presumably: that portion of England's debt that Scotland was forced to accept.
what is it with the ss eyebrows
The flags must've been electricians.
dude you need to put a warning first. almost went blind watching this. way to bright.
So wait a minute the united kingdom of great Britain and northern Ireland is only 98 years.
at 5:33 you say the English economy was booming and Scotland was broke due to it using its budget on Darien. The truth of the situation is vastly different. Scotland had no public debt and the money invested in Darien was all private capital. Also the Wars and 7 Ill years exacerbated English interference with Scottish trade. but England was in £18m of public debt that equates to at most £640,000,000,000 today and was afraid that Scotland would side with France or Spain due to its interference in their affairs.
The treaty of union was an international treaty agreed and approved by the monarchs of both kingdoms (being the same person in two different capacities but working against one of her kingdoms) who asked their parliaments to put the terms in to domestic law. You then miss out the bribes to encourage Scotland to vote on it, and the more important threats of invasion if it wasn't.
Whilst Great Britain was created neither Scotland or England ceased to exist as can be seen by the continued use of English crown and coronation process, whilst the claim of right needs to be adhered to for scotland. There should still be a coronation of the monarch in scotland, but the last person to do that was Charles the 2nd. No other monarch of Scotland / great britain has done so since.
you failed to speak of the most important part, England passed and act to incorporate Scotland as part of England but that didn't work, Scotland wasn't broke it was close to bankruptcy but it wasn't, the English introduced the the alien act and also shut all ports off to Scottish trade to cripple us further then paid politicians to vote in favour of the union, this happened on a day the parliament was basically empty, the union was illegal and wasn't wanted. hence the numerous wars through the 1700s and even uprising in the 1800s the spirit of a free Scotland is still with us today and the " union" will crumble
I think it's such a weird argument we've all been brainwashed into accepting as making any sort f sense; like, why do you have to annex your neighbour to help them with their economy anyway? This 'largesse' narrative is incredibly implausible
Ok
Source trust me bro
@@clay119 you can literally google it? Not hard the acts are there to view for all to see
@Fusilier jacobites wanted separate parliaments and no union
As an American with welsh heritage, I have my last name due to Henry the 8th burning my ancestors older brother Huge at the stake. To ensure our family name the sisters had their husbands take the family name. So my “Sur” name comes from a woman ❤
Most of Ireland had sense 😂😂😂
Simple answer: Because they’re on the same damn island! 😆
Ireland 53% 2016, YES! Scotland 62% 2016, NO??? Vote 2024! EU, Ireland & Scotland goodbye! England Imperial masters goodbye! 4 x country :)
England out of Ireland! 🇮🇪👍
If you had bothered to watch the video you'd know that is meaningless twaddle.
@@Alan_Mac
Robert means all of Ireland, Alan.
We want the 1918 Irish general election for complete independence to be fully respected.
@@shanekenny9440 He said, "England out of Ireland!" and, if he'd bothered to watch the video, he'd have known that England hasn't been in Ireland since 1707.
Much as I despise the croppy scum their chants of "Brits Out" is much more historically accurate.
@@Alan_Mac
Yeah you got that part right.
He would've made more sense if he said *"Brits out"* instead.
Looking at today's British politics and I'm noticing there's a lot of English Nationalists (Brexiteers) that want to dissolve the Union.
How do you feel about that?
@@shanekenny9440 I live in Glasgow and my kids are half Scottish and half Swedish. I despise those who support Brexit and Scottish Independence alike. They are two cheeks of the same fetid arse.
Wrong Britain is not a country there is no such thing as a British monarch . 1707 was a union of Parliaments not a union of territory . There was no union of the crowns 1707 act of union states two crowns two constitutions one monarchy . There is no such thing as the British crown
FORMER countries!!!!!!
Union under english crown, if you want leave union, you need ask permission to english government=British government , Scotland is english colony
A Scottish king and a Scottish queen invented the union. Not exactly a colony is it
@@TheLewisLegend they didnt invented, they suffered pressure by English crown, to make union.
You're obviously an immigrant
Apart from the fact Its the uk goverment... not the english goverment. England is directly controlled by the UK goverment and actually have no parliment.
If Scotland was an english colony, they wouldn't even have their own parliment and England would have their own parliment, which then would control everything Scotland does, thats what being a colony is about. If your a colony, you would NOT have your own devolved parliment, and ALL your laws would be under forein rule, both these things are not true for scotland so theyre not a colony.
Hopefully Scotland will be leaving the UK soon
The day Scotland northern Ireland and Wales gain independence will be a beautiful day
It will be a crap day
@@gavinperry8433 i do not support the monarchy
@@gavinperry8433 yes am sure
Yes a beautiful day that all citizens of the British isles are now significantly weaker and more irrelevant than ever. The anti English sentiment runs so deep that many welsh and Scottish would gladly see their economies ruined and their global position reduced to nothing just to be less associated with the English
@@freeplex589 Why? Self determination is something everyone deserves
The term "British Isles" can be dropped. It is offensive, inaccurate and just plain goofy. Otherwise a pretty good video, well done.
Thanks, but lol.
Woah Woah Woah. You got Irish history quite quite wrong!!!
Well alot has changed in 2 years. The UK is crumbling. Sooner the better it does!