‘Forging a Nation’- Linda Colley Britons

From 1707 Both the creation of a strong and vibrant Nation-state

commercial opportunity (of Empire, in large part)

religious securityconstitutional freedoms

domestic securityfreedom from invasion

and, a shotgun marriage – defined by enforcement within

andagainst ‘other’

Union Flag of the United Kingdom

it became united, but not always (or ever) so

So what worked:

1. All nations are, in part, defined by what they are not

2. Specific context in early-modern eraincluded devising mechanisms of control

3. Revised role, and renewed popularity of the monarchy

4. Material change

Getting ‘forged’Regicide

1. between 1649 and 1660 England was a republic

2. never purely political: important religious dimensionsregional, factional differences in Englandbetween England, Scotland and Irelandbetween England and continental powers

Lord Protector and Head of State (1653-58)3. Oliver Cromwell – government by militarya conservative Calvinist

Restoration and Revolution

Charles II restored to laws of 1649• exclusion crisis of 1678-81• deathbed conversion• succeeded by his brother, James II

William and a New Order• 1688 landed in Devon• James fell apart; declared an abdication• William and Mary declared monarchs

• Glorious Revolution – peaceful (?)

But,in a constitutional monarchy

legislation is necessary, to create the laws by which the parliament, and the monarchy rule

* This is big *

It was about peaceBill of Rights of 1689 limited the sovereign’s power,

reaffirmed parliament’s right to tax and legislate Catholics excluded from monarchy

The Toleration Act of 1689 Protestant non-conformists freedom of worshipnot Catholics(who are non-Conformists? And why does it matter?)

1701 Act of Settlement to secure Protestant succession 1702 Queen AnnePrincess Sophia, Electress of Hanover George I

Crown ? less powerful than in 1649: fiscal resources strong civil service growing

Be suspicious of synthesis in history….Nothing was quiet, really:• arguments regarding the right to political

participation• religious divisions remained• ethnic/national tensions remained

• but other developments – money from growth in empire

material over theory?

Where does this leave the Acts of Union?

The ‘glorious’ revolution in Scotland

The response in 1698: ‘Jesus Christ is the only Head and

King of this church’ – General Assembly

Enduring Jacobism • Oath of Allegiance by 1691• ‘massacre at Glencoe’

Economic relations: the Darien Scheme

the Wine Actthe Act Anent Peace and WarAct of Security

‘this nation, being poor and without force to protect its commerce, cannot reap great advantage by it, till it partake of the trade and protection of some powerful neighbor nations’

English Alien Act (1705) – foreign nation with no right to trade with Britain

the trump

Settlement: one single parliament, 45 MPs Scots; 16 Lords

1/12 MPs [1::5 million citizens]

15 of 25 articles about tradefree trade for political independence

Y Deddfau Uno, 1535 a 1542

“the people of the same dominion have and do daily use a speche nothing like ne consonant to the naturall mother tonge used within this Realme” …. “utterly to extirpe alle and singular sinister usages and customs belonging to Wales.

and across the Irish Sea?

Trinity College Dublin est. 1592

‘Battle of the Boyne’ Wyck c.1693

How does ‘other’ define a nation?

In this ‘imagined community’: consisting of its own various ethnicities

Wars were of central importance: avoided major invasionavoided conscriptioncreated consensus

Paton, Sir Joseph Noel. In Memoriam. 1858

Continental Wars: with France who supported the StuartsSeven Years War supported American colonists after 1778colonial conflicts: N.A., south Asia, Africa,

MediterraneanNapoleonic Wars

(unattributed) 18C French print

Britain forged by:

the heat of economic power

pounded by a malet of military might when necessary

Cooled and hardened by culture, law and the desire for lasting peace