WHAT WERE THE ACTS OF UNION?
On 1 May 1707, two acts took effect: one passed by the Parliament of Scotland and the other by the Parliament of England. Together, they enacted the Treaty of Union to bring together their individual states into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. While they had already shared the same monarchs for more than 100 years, England and Scotland now had a shared sovereignty, parliament and flag, as well as taxation, coinage and trade systems. This was a key step in the formation of the Britain that exists today.
HAD THERE BEEN ATTEMPTS TO UNITE ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND BEFORE THE 18TH CENTURY?
Since 1603, England and Scotland had been in a dynastic union with a shared monarch. Elizabeth I had died without an heir, ending the Tudor line and resulting in her cousin James VI, who had ruled Scotland since 1567, becoming King of England and Ireland. But they remained separate kingdoms: two crowns,
