England and Scotland Unite as Great Britain
Two kingdoms with one shared king for a century finally merge into a single state by act of law
Quick facts
- Scottish Parliament vote
- 16 January 1707, majority of 43
- English royal assent
- 6 March 1707
- Union effective
- 1 May 1707
- Prior personal union
- Since 1603 (James VI/I)
What happened
England and Scotland had shared a single monarch since 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne, but remained separate kingdoms with separate parliaments for over a century afterward. After three months of debate, the Scottish Parliament voted on the whole Treaty of Union on 16 January 1707, carrying it by a majority of 43; the treaty received royal assent in the English Parliament on 6 March 1707, and the Scottish Parliament held its final session on 25 March 1707. The Act's own text, preserved in UK legislation, states plainly that the two kingdoms of Scotland and England shall upon the first day of May next ensuing the date hereof and forever after be united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain.
Why it matters
The Act of Union created the single political entity of Great Britain out of two previously independent kingdoms, ending nearly 300 years of intermittent warfare and rivalry between England and Scotland and folding the Scottish Parliament into a new Parliament of Great Britain at Westminster, a settlement that lasted until Scottish devolution restored a separate Scottish Parliament in 1999.
How we know
The Act of Union survives as an original piece of legislation passed by both the Scottish and English Parliaments, preserved today in the official UK legislation database and in Scottish parliamentary records of the 1707 vote.
Sources
- Scottish Archives for Schools. Union of 1707 - The Union Achieved · General sourcescottisharchivesforschools.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk (UK Government). Union with England Act 1707 · Primary source (author-declared)legislation.gov.uk · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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