Ordinance of Union Attempts to Unify England and Scotland
The Ordinance of Union represents a significant historical attempt to unify England and Scotland, initiated on April 12, 1654, by Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the English Commonwealth. This attempt came in the context of a long-standing royal connection between the two nations, which had shared monarchs since 1603 when James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. Despite this shared monarchy, England and Scotland remained distinct entities with separate parliaments and legal systems. Following the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, Cromwell sought to solidify his control and establish a more formal union between the two countries, although he ruled as a military dictator rather than a monarch.
Cromwell's efforts to unite England and Scotland were short-lived, ending with his death in 1658 and the subsequent restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660. It wasn't until the Act of Union in 1707 that England and Scotland were officially merged into one kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. This later union absorbed Scotland's parliament into that of England, while allowing some Scottish institutions to maintain their distinct identities, such as the Presbyterian church and judiciary. The historical attempts at unification reflect the complex relationship between the two nations, shaped by political, religious, and social factors throughout the centuries.
Ordinance of Union Attempts to Unify England and Scotland
Ordinance of Union Attempts to Unify England and Scotland
On April 12, 1654, Oliver Cromwell, the military dictator of Britain, made a precocious attempt to unite England and Scotland into one nation. The two countries had shared the same monarch since 1603, when James VI (of Scotland's Stuart dynasty) had inherited the throne of his cousin, Elizabeth I of England, who had died childless. James thus became James I of England while continuing to rule in Scotland as James VI, and his son, Charles I, was likewise ruler of both lands. However, the two kingdoms were united only in the person of the monarch; in all other respects they were separate nations, each with its own parliament, legal system, and established church.
Charles's misrule and his problems with the English parliament and English Puritans resulted in civil war and the overthrow of his government by Oliver Cromwell, an able general and a leader of the forces of the new English Commonwealth. Charles was beheaded on January 30, 1649; his son and heir fled abroad; and over the next few years Cromwell crushed resistance to English rule in Scotland and Ireland. Since Cromwell encountered almost as many problems with Parliament as Charles I had, he eventually decided to govern alone, with only a remnant of a legislature, as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. He was virtually a dictator, of the modern “strong man” type, but he was not a Stuart king, with a hereditary right to rule, and without loyalty to a shared royal dynasty Scotland and England were held together by nothing but force. In an effort to establish a legal foundation for his rule and increase its efficiency, Cromwell issued the Ordinance by the Protector for the Union of England and Scotland on April 12, 1654.
Cromwell's attempt at union with Scotland lasted little longer than his Commonwealth. He died on September 3, 1658, and his son and heir Richard did not possess the prestige or the ability to take his place. On May 8, 1660, a new Parliament proclaimed Charles I's son, who was living in exile, the new king, thus reinstating the Stuart dynasty. Charles II returned to England on May 8, 1660, and was formally crowned on April 23, 1661. Union between England and Scotland would have to wait until 1707, when the Act of Union merged the two countries into one United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Scottish parliament was absorbed into the English parliament in London, and other Scottish institutions were made to conform to the English model, although Scotland retained its national Presbyterian church and a separate judiciary.