The Making of the United Kingdom

The acts of union

1707 and 1801

Aims of this lesson

By the end of this lesson you will

• Understand what we mean by the United Kingdom and identify its main features

• Understand how and why England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland came together in the 18th and 19th centuries

• Evaluate the positive and negative effects of the union then and now

England

• The most powerful nation in the British Isles

• Often at war with Scotland, Ireland and Wales

• Feared these countries joining up with her enemies

Wales

• Had been conquered by the English in the 13th century

• English Lords controlled half the land – a threat

• In 1536 Wales had been joined to England via an act of union

• The Welsh Parliament was abolished and joined with the English Parliament

Scotland

• 1603 – James VI of Scotland became James I of England

• Kept own Parliament• 1707 – Act of Union joined

the Scottish and English Parliaments

• First union flag created• Joined together because

England feared that Scotland would support France

Ireland

• Henry VIII had taken control of Ireland in the 15th century

• Took time – not completely taken over until the late 1700s

• 1690 – the last of the great Catholic rebellions against the British was put down

• Power now lay in the hands of the Protestant minority

The United Kingdom

• England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were all ruled by one Parliament and one King

• Capital city was London• Some northern Scots unhappy but most

benefited from the union• The Catholic Irish never really accepted to

the union and the domination by the Protestant minority