The Act of Union, 1707

By the Act of Union, the Scots lost their Parliament but gained the freedom of the British Empire.

18th-century French illustration of an opening of the Scottish Parliament

The Union of the Two Kingdoms was a work, of which many had quite despaired, in which number I was one; and those who entertained better hopes, thought it must have run out into a long negotiation for several years: but beyond all men's expectation, it was begun and finished within the compass of one.

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