Scotland In the Union

Many Scots wished to restore James to the throne and to continue the Stuart line. These people were known as Jacobites. When Anne was succeeded in 1714 by George I, a German, the Jacobites rose in rebellion. James Stuart, son of the late king and later known as the Old Pretender, landed in Scotland in 1715 but, finding his local forces ineffectual, departed.

In 1745 James's son Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), the Young Pretender, raised the Highland clans in rebellion. He soon won most of Scotland and proclaimed his father king (as James VIII); Charles then moved into England but was forced by his clan chiefs to withdraw. A few months later Charles was defeated at Culloden, and the rebellion ended.

As part of Great Britain, Scotland developed economically. Agriculture improved, textile mills flourished, fisheries thrived, and an iron industry developed. Meanwhile, dissension arose in the Presbyterian church following the Act of Union, which had made it the official Church of Scotland. Various factions within the church vied for control in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the result that many groups seceded and founded non-establishment churches.

A feeling of being treated politically as inferior to England created periodic discontent. A growing national consciousness led to a demand for home rule in the 1880's that gained support from the Liberal party, but no legislation was passed. In the 1920's a movement for independence developed and led to the formation of the Scottish National party (SNP). The SNP had its first election successes in 1945. Its strength began growing in the late 1950's and increased in the early 1970's. In 1975 the British government announced plans to give Scotland limited home rule. In a 1979 referendum, however, the proposal failed to win approval by a required 40 per cent of the Scottish voters. In a 1997 referendum voters approved the restoration of Scotland's Parliament in 1999.

Meanwhile, in the late 1960's oil and natural gas were discovered in the North Sea off the Scottish coast. These fields were developed extensively in the 1970's and still yield enormous amounts of oil and natural gas. In 1993 a massive oil spill occurred off the Shetland Islands when a tanker ran aground.