Scotland's Role In The British Empire - Documentary

the British Empire the largest and most successful empire in history at its height a quarter of the world in terms of both population and land area were under its rule it disappeared from the earth only recently the official end of the empire being marked at 1997 we sometimes mistake this for in English Empire while the English were responsible for the lion's share of the Empire's formation and administration we should remember that the word British includes Scotland Scots played a major role and information of the British Empire but how and why medieval Scottish history consisted of a fierce rivalry between England and Scotland how and why did a union between these two kingdoms come about hello and welcome the fire of learning in this video we will be covering the history of Scotland from the late medieval era with the rise of these Stuart's to the Rene songs and events like the union of crowns the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and go all the way up to the modern day telling the nation's fascinating and exciting tale recently we made a video covering Scotland's history from ancient times to this point which is not necessary to watch to follow this one but if you do enjoy this one I would recommend it although I'd recommend watching all my videos twice now that let's get to it before we begin I would like to thank Vinnie Hall and Jackson and McCafferty for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters who make these videos possible February of 1371 Scotland has recently emerged from a second war of independence in which had fought against English attempts to seize control of the whole of the island it scored a victory and is now largely left alone while their ally France wages war against England their hundred years war it is a hard-won peace much of the country has been devastated by war along with accompanying feminine plague crime and rebellion were rampant nobles competed for power leading to violence life was difficult to make matters worse though there is peace war will almost certainly come again robert ii became king the first of the House of Stuart when he former King David the second died unexpectedly at the age of 46 with no robert ii was his nephew he was 55 years old when he inherited the throne and had 22 children by multiple different women meaning he would easily be able to find an heir the positions he gave his sons and marriages he arranged for his daughters would be of great importance to the growth of the houses power his intention being to control the country through them a sound strategy and for a time it worked Robert had direct authority of eight of the fifteen earldoms because of his children however his power was limited by the fact that his sons were not always so cooperative a minor war broke out with England in 1373 but peace came in 1384 that same year Robert's son John the Earl of Carrick revolted against his father's rule being made lieutenant of the kingdom he was now king in all but name in 1385 the war with England was back on at the Battle of otter burn and 1388 the Scottish scored a Pyrrhic victory the battle was won but the earth of Carrick lost key allies in the fighting a second coup d'etat occurred not long after robber ii died in 1390 he was succeeded by his lieutenants son John the Earl of Carrick who took on the original name of Robert to tie himself to Robert the Bruce becoming Roberts to third despite being the former lieutenant as king he too was now largely powerless his lieutenant Robert Duke of Albany his brother held true power the essential point to gain here from this spider's web is that the weakness of the monarchy and the competition among various Nobles to hold true power became a trend which would not soon be broken and would take place while Scotland herself was under threat when Robert the third son David died under suspicious circumstances he sent his son James to France in 1406 however while on route Prince James was captured by English sailors and brought to the English King Henry the fourth there he remained in captivity indefinitely now viewing his whole reign as a failure Robert 1/3 died not long after Roberts brother Robert Duke of Albany then became Regent when he died the Regency passed to his son Murdoch all the while Scotland's true king James remain in English captivity after 18 years in English captivity in 1424 James was finally ransomed back he was treated well by the English much more of a guest in a prisoner but 18 years of captivity still does not make one a happy camper when he returned to Scotland he immediately attempted to rehearse affairs having Murdoch and other members of his Regency executed for treason he sought to assume control and bring order to his kingdom James's executions would continue throughout the rest of his reign many were perhaps warranted as others did try to grab his position but he likely went too far he was perceived as a threat by the nobles furthermore he was not very well received by his people who distrusted his close relationship with the English and the King Henry the fifth and the taxes they paid for not merely his ransom but lavish lifestyle he also tried to subdue the autonomy of the clan chiefs of the highlands making him unpopular there in 1437 another coup d'etat broke out King James was assassinated in the coup but his wife survived and managed to bring his heir to safety the coup then ultimately failed and the conspirators were later executed James was succeeded by his son who became James the second that year when he was crowned not in Scoon as many Scottish Kings had been but rather in Holyrood Abbey in a city called Edinburgh however James ii was only a boy naturally this meant a Regency was required and naturally this meant another power struggle for the throne the power struggle continued even when James the second came of age James the second would take a hands-on approach killing some of his rivals with his own hands his struggles with his rivals culminated on May 1st 1455 at the Battle of arkin home here the Royal forces crushed the rebellious Douglas family bringing an end to the rebellion after decades of competing families vying for the crown James ii was bringing stability to the situation making the monarchy feared respected and the true center of scottish political life scotland under this confident and energetic ruler was entering what historians refer to as the early modern era things were changing not only here but throughout Europe in 1453 the Roman Empire came to a final end when the city of Constantinople was taken by the Ottoman Turks that same year the Hundred Years War between France and England came to an unofficial end james ii showed that scotland was advancing alongside the rest of the world with his use of cannons and combat he seemed destined to have a long successful and active reign or he would have in one incident in a war with England trying to take back the castle of Roxburgh which had been lost in the Wars of Independence one of these cannons exploded by the next one killing him at the age of 29 despite this the castle was taken the throne then passed to his eight-year-old son James's 3rd James the 3rd did not turn out to be Scotland's greatest monarch for a period of time he thought back into a position of being controlled by other Nobles still a number of important changes were made in his reign he is viewed as perhaps Scotland's first Renaissance King the city of Edinburgh of increasing importance became the kingdom's unofficial capital the cultural distinction between the Highlands and lowlands grew the Highlands being dominated by the clan system and less subject to the rule of the king the Celtic Gaelic language or Gallic as it is pronounced in Scotland today remained prevalent and enorus whereas the people of the lowland including the nobility tended to speak a variant of Middle English which evolved into what we call Scots in 1468 the isles of orkney and shetland for the moor which had been under North's rule for roughly 600 years longer than Scotland has owned them today finally became Scottish the Western Isles too though already Scottish lost a degree of their autonomy James the third much to the annoyance of his subjects attempted to foster better relations with his English neighbors attempting to forge an alliance and even marry his son to an English princess the marriage did not take place and the Alliance of the part when war broke out in 1480 however he had soiled his reputation for nothing in 1482 an English backed coup d'etat occurred which saw James the third and Prison in Edinburgh Castle and Alexander Duke of Albany made lieutenant general of the kingdom the coup however dependent on England would not last and James the third was able to reclaim this throne by a 1483 it was perhaps after his restoration that James the third truly showed his ineptitude when strangely he continued to try to form an alliance with England his rule became increasingly unpopular and led to rebellion not long after five years later royal forces met the rebels at the Battle of Sochi burn James the third was defeated and was killed either during or after the battle the rebels proclaimed his 15 year old son also James King as James DeForest James the fourth showed himself to be an improvement he dealt successfully with multiple uprisings and asserted his power on the Isles and Highland's who is much more of a true renaissance man and his father taking interests in science and the arts he too sought to improve relations with England however in 1502 he signed the Treaty of Perpetual peace with England and married a different English princess than he had been expected to Margaret Tudor daughter of Henry the seventh it's always amusing to see how quickly these treaties of Perpetual peace break down in this case perpetuity lasted about a decade European politics in warfare had expanded and nations were increasingly thinking on a continental scale Scotland though a bit distanced from the mainland on the edge of the map and aware of that fact became involved in these affairs as well seeing things differently than their southern neighbors in 1513 to honor the auld alliance with France Scottish troops led by James the fourth marched south to invade England on the 9th of September they met at the Battle of Flodden the Scottish were expected to win here however they soon faced a disastrous defeat James the fourth a man of honor led from the front this behavior while noble got him killed he and many other Scottish nobility died in the fighting this was a radical development his heir James v was not yet two years old and thus yet again a Regency was required Scotland entered a broader European stage in this modern era of expanding horizons Scottish nobility became divided on which path exactly the kingdom should take some favored maintaining the French Alliance which had been key to warding off English advances others favorite and alliance was England or at least better relations conflict in Italy involving much of Europe was putting pressure on this decision the majority favored France but the pro English faction maintained considerable power the division became clear among the regions of James of fist minority by 1528 James despite some difficulty assumed control of the kingdom he quickly showed himself to be much like his father energetic determined and very much a Renaissance man through various methods he increased the money flow into his Treasury and spent it on things such as art and architecture as far as international diplomacy was concerned he favored the French he married two French women the former dying young the latter being married keys the two of them would later have three children together two sons and a daughter the sons would unfortunately die prematurely but the daughter would survive like many Scottish kings of the age he was trying to tie Scotland closer to the continent unfortunately for him he got what he wanted Scotland was about to be rocked by an earthquake felt across Europe the rupturing began with an outspoken German friar named Martin Luther this was the Protestant Reformation the challenge to the Catholic Church as England under Henry the eighth's embraced the Reformation in 1532 while France remained Catholic increased pressure would be placed on Scotland típica side the presence of the Catholic Church was already weak in Scotland the wars and chaos which had ravaged the country in past decades had taken their toll on the local churches and ecclesiastical hierarchy distant from Rome the clergy of Scotland were not exactly the most adherent to church doctrine a large number of them having illegitimate children though the Reformation appealed to some King James v remained a devout Catholic and opposed all heresy banning the religion from his kingdom and heretics at the stake despite this crackdown they continued to grow in number by 1525 the New Testament had been translated into Scots as mentioned not long after Henry the 8th King of England broke from the Catholic Church tension between the two nations grew further as a result but for a long war broke out between them again the Scots and English met at the Battle of Solway moss on the 24th of November it was not much of a battle but the English managed to score a decisive victory nevertheless losing seven men they took 1200 Scottish prisoners the Scottish army broke in the face of an English force one-fifth their size and many including many Scottish leaders drowned at a retreat this was yet another major blow to the Scottish army to make matters worse James the fifth at the age of only thirty died of a fever not long after with no other air he was succeeded by his daughter who was only six days old she is known as Mary Queen of Scots Mary's first Regent was James Hamilton Earl of Aran who held the Regency for twelve years he was a Protestant and pro English intending for Mary to one day marry the English Prince Edward however he later switched sides rhe converting to Catholicism and embracing the French the English King Henry the eighth was not amused and began planning an invasion of Scotland he ordered his men to put all two fire and sword trying to force the Scots to agree to the marriage proposal his men listened this war was known as the rough wooing though Henry the eighth died in 1547 the war continued with discussing defeat at the Battle of pinkey clue only some months later the Scottish thus turned to their old ally France for help the French agreed on the condition that Mary would marry the King of France's son it was agreed Mary was then sent to France to be raised and the French sent their forces against the English the rough wooing ended around 1550 ode to this French assistance the marriage between Mary and the French King Henry's son Francis was not simply one to and alliance there was a larger reason for Francis Francis to marry Mary had they had children Scotland and France would have been held in a personal union some Scots dusty felt that England was not the only threat to Scotland sovereignty furthermore to add to these two domains in 1558 a claim to the throne of England was made via Mary why England had been temporarily ruled by a Catholic Queen Henry the eighth's daughter also named Mary remember to history as Bloody Mary for her attitude toward her heretical subjects Mary died in 1558 and with no other heir her half-sister Elizabeth became queen of England Elizabeth however was a Protestant and so her rule was not recognised by the Catholics of Scotland and France the next Catholic in the line of succession was Henry's great niece Mary Queen of Scots national boundaries were being blurred by religious affiliations as Protestants revolted in both Scotland where they went so far as to invite the English into their country to a system and France were it led to debilitating conflict Francis ii became king of france in 1559 but as fate would have it he would be a short-lived monarch dying of illness the year after and therefore breaking the union between France and Scotland Mary then returned to Scotland when she arrived she found that tension was still growing Mary was now distrusted by many of her subjects with Protestant performers like John Knox who staunchly opposed Catholic habits and female rulers fanning the flames however Mary did not condemn the Protestants even allowing them into her government why perhaps two reasons the first being that Scotland was becoming a Protestant specifically Presbyterian nation of Calvinist doctrine with or without their monarch Presbyterian here refers to an organization of church elders being nominated by congregations as opposed to Episcopalian ISM found in England with bishops elected by the monarch Mary who had been distant from her people was unable to stop the tide of reformation sweeping across the country good reason being to simply strengthen ties with England in 1565 Mary married again this time her cousin the 21 year old Henry Stuart Lord Darnley Lord Darnley was also Queen Elizabeth's cousin and in English subject Elizabeth who attempted to direct the course of Mary's marriage was furious with her choice as any child born from the two would have a stronger claim to the throne of England than Mary herself Elizabeth's the air this virgin queen was indeed willing to consider Mary as an heir to the throne but only if she could be controlled Darnley did not become King of Scotland but rather King consort with Mary holding the real power having angered Elizabeth Mary turned to other powers for assistance namely Catholic Spain England's other main rival apart from France this lost her much of the support of her Protestant subjects Mary had become acquainted with David Rizzio a few years prior to the wedding a Savoyard courier who later became Mary's secretary and close friend in 1566 Mary was pregnant a question spread of the child's true father her husband with whom she had an increasingly poor relationship or rich CEO though Mary claimed it was the son of her husband throughout her life Doran Lee's behavior raised suspicions in March of that year he and a number of other Scottish Nobles stabbed Reed CEO to death in front of her potentially hoping to not only kill the man but even caused Mary to miscarry it did not work however and the relationship would be forever strained mary had a son who she named James in June despite this incident Mary could not punish the conspirators out of fear of losing her power but did she really let the incidents lie in January of 1567 a house in which darling was staying exploded Darnley was found dead but not from the explosion his body was found a short distance away from the house appearing to have died from strangulation what exactly happened and who might have been responsible remains a mystery to this day but fingers were pointed at Mary and her network Mary soon married James Hepburn the Earl of Bothwell who was likely connected never happened to Darnley this little incidents did not sit well with these Scottish nobility and other prominent figures in society like John Knox they rose up against Marion Bothwell but there were no battles Mary was deposed and Bothwell fled only to die later in a Danish dungeon Mary was branded Scotland's [ __ ] and imprisoned her son James only a year old was declared King James the sixth of Scotland and kept from her Mary supporters soon rescued her and she made an attempt to retake the throne this time a minor civil war did break out but this failed with the odds clearly against her she fled Scotland to seek refuge in England she would never see Scotland nor her son ever again Queen Elizabeth took pity on her cousin and allowed her refuge but she was not warmly received there was still a little problem Mary had never renounced her claim to the English throne and threatened to be a figurehead of a Catholic rebellion Elizabeth accordingly perhaps justifiably did not trust Mary Mary was effectively held under a kind of house arrest for the next sixteen years of her life during which time she did indeed participate in Floss against Elizabeth all the while Scotland remained embroiled in civil war James the sixth as mentioned was only a wee lad when he became King and so the government was run by a regent a series of Regents rather as competitors had a habit of killing each other Scotland remained in civil war even after Mary fled to England young King James was kidnapped several times enduring a hectic and abuse of youth in 1586 Mary who had stirred up discontent in England on multiple occasions was tried and found guilty of her crimes in February she was executed and so having failed at many of her ambitions and with opinion on her varying greatly to this day Mary died her son James the sixth however would come to win equal fame and great success forever changing Scotland and England James had taken on real power in Scotland a few years earlier in 1583 around the age of seventeen he was bothered by his mother's execution but did not speak out he had hardly known and was not willing to challenge the English throne for he would have a strong claim to it after the death of the Virgin Queen the pro English attitude began to take hold in Scotland the people of the Highlands and Islands were much less approving of King James's sixth the language customs dress and culture of the Highlands became referred to as Irish and the much more English Scots language and lowland culture were preferred James demanded further obedience from the Highland nobles and colonized certain areas with loyalists this caused tension between them and he would quarrel with them for the rest of his life what were these clans the word clan comes from the Gaelic clan often translated as kindred or offspring some claim that the clans originated in ancient times and are connected to Gaelic or Pictish mythology but in reality these clans developed in the late Middle Ages as the Scots conquered the northern lands from the Norse families in the Highlands clustered around the dominant regional families in this time with these clan chiefs functioning effectively as warlords not all members of a Scottish clan were necessarily related to each other those who lived on the Chiefs lands and took their names were a part of the clan the clan chiefs pledged loyalty to the Scottish King and were therefore a part of the feudal system and late medieval history but in reality many of them acted independently as the Highlands and Islands were not always easy to reach and control leading to these cultural differences between the lowlands and highlands as these clans were often at war with each other a warrior culture developed among them by the 16th century however this clan system came under threat as the reach of the Scottish Kings grew further into the highlands on March 24th 1603 Elizabeth the first queen of England died as was hoped the heir to the throne was named James the sixth of Scotland who was the closest Protestant heir this moment called the union of the Crown's was among the most important moments in the history of the island along with England he inherited the kingdom of Ireland as well which the English had long sought to dominate though under the same King it is important to note that Scotland and England would remain separate distinct kingdoms with separate Parliament's and laws being held under personal Union James however did wish to turn it into one country attempting to style himself as king of Great Britain and Ireland but the English much less willing to bend to the will of the monarch than these Scots forbade the use of this exact title Scotland too had reservations about it and total unity was distrusted by both nations for the time James now James the first of England as well as a sixth of Scotland moved south to rule his domains finding England to be a much more comfortable place likewise his English subjects celebrated his arrival not all of them were happy however specifically his Catholic subjects much of James's rule would revolve around the religious controversies in Britain and Europe at the time he survived multiple attempts on his life which were religiously motivated including the famous failed Gunpowder Plot staged by Guy Fawkes on the 5th of November 1605 who sought to blow up Parliament with him inside it meanwhile in 1607 James orchestrated the colonization of the new far-off land of America England's first successful settlement Jamestown for his name Scotland would try its hand at the colonization of the Americas as well occurring shortly after James's death four attempts were made to colonize a land they called Nova Scotia Latin for New Scotland these four attempts failed however and a successful colony was not established there until 1629 these colonies as you can tell would not be greatly successful at first and were subjected to wars with the French who were colonizing the same areas James was also interested in the colonization of nearer lands as well in 1609 he adopted the idea of previous monarchs to settle Protestant loyalists from both England and Scotland in Ireland this led to the Ulster Plantation the hope was to bring all of Ireland under loyalist rule thereby replacing the rebellious Gaelic Catholic rulers of the island it didn't work however and the divided created remains to this day in Ireland in 1611 King James orchestrated the publishing of the King James Bible the official English translation of the Bible which would mark the direction of the Church of England for the foreseeable future it was not however as well received in Scotland and though both Protestant the churches of England and Scotland were not United what James did miss about Scotland was his absolute rule over it in England has mentioned Parliament was less cooperative with him he eventually became so frustrated with it that he temporarily dismissed it on multiple occasions furthermore as time passed he grew less popular with his people he had ended war with Spain and sought to improve relations with them to avoid future Wars this the people saw as getting too close to an enemy James's foreign relation decisions became even more important win in 1618 the 30 Years War broke out and the Holy Roman Empire which involved Spain though the war was a major one England and Scotland honor James who preferred peace throughout his reign did not play a heavy role in it James died in 1625 a monarch with a complicated but generally positive legacy he had reigned for 57 years longer than any other Scottish monarch he was succeeded by his son Charles de frst Charles the first was very much in English monarch he was raised mostly in England and was less familiar with his native Scotland which made it more difficult for him to work with his Scottish subjects adding to his lack of the political talent his father had his reign would be but simply disastrous it would threaten to break apart the Union his father had achieved and changed the Isles forever both Charles and his father were fervent believers in the Divine Right of Kings to rule essentially meaning that they were granted their power by God and that none below them therefore could challenge that power for to do so would be to challenge the almighty England especially had always been skeptical of that position whereas it was the standard in Scotland even though Scotland did have its own Parliament regardless charles was much worse than his father at convincing people of it Charles made the mistake of attempting to unite the English and Scottish churches in 1637 he ordered the English Book of Common Prayer to be used in Scottish churches this led to mass discontent in Scotland the key difference here between the churches of England and Scotland had to do with hierarchy the English favored in Episcopalian system with bishops the Scottish favored their Presbyterian system without them Charles was unwilling to listen to his Scottish subjects about the issue and attempted to force them to comply the Scots in response formed a covenant claiming that they would resist any attempts to dissuade them from following the true religion they feared not only the organisation of the Anglican Church but were motivated as well by a fear of Catholicism which was rampant throughout the country hardly anyone in Scotland by this point remained Catholic perhaps a mere 2% of the population primarily people in the highlands but fears grew as wars over religion raged on the continent and were met with fears that Charles himself was a closeted Catholic those who adhered to this covenant were known as the covenant errs their dispute with the King led to the beginning of the bishops Wars Charles had dissolved parliament with whom he struggled throughout his reign and was unable to rely on their support for issuing attacks when he sent an army northward to deal with the Covenant errs he funded it himself and found it poorly equipped the first bishops war did not see much bloodshed at all and quickly led to negotiations but the negotiations failed and Charles attempted to use force once again the second bishops war thus began but again only a few hundred lives were lost at the Battle of New Bern in August of 1640 and it ended soon thereafter Charles the first accept a defeat and the Scottish Church or Kirk was left to its own this would not be the last of his blunders meanwhile issues and the other kingdoms were flaring up in Ireland which was very reluctant to accept Protestantism Catholics rose up against them massacring many of them the reports of the atrocities in Ireland outraged Protestants across Britain though in truth they were exaggerated well beyond reality for this purpose the Scottish effectively being governed by the coven enters at this point sent a force to suppress the rebellion while also imposing Presbyterianism on the rest of Scotland matters in England were worsening as well the English wanted to raise an army to fight the Catholic Irish but dispute arose over who should have the power over this army the King or Parliament this question was not easily resolved soon England would be embroiled in conflict a civil war this began in 1642 after Charles and Parliament could not come to terms with each other the Royalists and parliamentarian factions resolved then to conflict collectively these conflicts are known as the Wars of the three kingdoms each side of the English Civil War sought the assistance of Scotland the Covenant er forces had a reputation for effectiveness viscosity vided over the issue but the coven enters chose the rebellious parliamentarian side with whom they empathized more and from whom they had received a promise that the Presbyterian faith would not only be allowed in Scotland but would be embraced in all of Britain following their victory the latter half of the promise being well a bit weak in July of 1644 the common interests were key to the victory at the Battle of Marston Moor not all Scots accepted the Covenant arrggh decision however including James Graham Marquess of Montrose who led an army of Highlanders and Irish Confederates into Scotland against T covenant errs sparking a Scottish civil war the Highland clans had been at odds with the low lenders for some time now and prefer to support the weaker more distant Charles - first Montrose on notable successes and proved an excellent commander at battles such as tip erm where however his luck ran out within a year following the Battle of Philippi he surrendered to the Covenant errs the year after in 1646 that same year King Charles also surrendered to the coming under army and was taken into their custody the Scots didn't know what to do with him exactly and so they sold him to the English with this the first English Civil War came to an end and despite victory the Scots found the results unsettling Parliament which now ruled England was of course not going to embrace Presbyterianism and worse sought to bring Scotland under Closer English rule in a meeting with Scottish Nobles however Charles this time promised discuss what they wanted relative freedom and the imposition of Presbyterianism on the kingdoms with this promise no more genuine than that of the parliamentarians the Covenant or switched sides but now before a brief fight over it in Scotland itself the Covenant her army took a hit in the Civil War and when it marched south who tried to reinstate Charles the first they were met in August of 1648 at the Battle of Preston by a smaller but far more prepared English force called the New Model Army under a fervent and disciplined Puritan commander named Oliver Cromwell a few months later in January of 1649 the stubborn a Charles the first was executed it shocked the islands and the world the English declared the formation of the English Commonwealth a republic though certainly not a modern one the scottish however refused to surrender and proclaimed Charles's son who was currently exiled in the netherlands king as charles ii this led to another war between England and Scotland at the battles of Dunbar and the following year Worcester the English under Cromwell who was power and influence was growing emerged victorious charles ii when led the army was forced to flee into exile once again many of these scoffs captured at the Battle of Worcester were enslaved and sent to work in North America Scotland was subsequently occupied and brought into the Commonwealth this union with England was far tighter than it had been with a union of crowns for the time being Scotland was in fact in English province losing its independent parliament church system and laws a fact which many Scots resented rebellions occurred in following years despite an English army remaining in Scotland by 1653 Cromwell had become Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland King in all but name however his regime did not last long Parliament felt a king would heal the wounds of the Civil War they offered the position to him but he refused he died in 1658 the position of Lord Protector passed to his son Richard though he resigned in 1659 with affairs in England becoming turbulent their grip on Scotland loosened with the threat of disorder now looming again Parliament felt that despite the events of the past 30 years charles ii should be invited back to be King of England Scotland and Ireland over perhaps well over 45,000 Scottish soldiers and civilians had died in the Wars of these three kingdoms including another thirty thousand civilians who died of plague which had been spread by moving armies affairs and Ireland had been much worse where perhaps around 40% of the population had died from wars famines and disease many issues remained unresolved charles ii for example once he was in power sent bishops to scotland knowing full well how they felt about it however with the restoration and coronation of the Merrie Monarch in 1661 came peace the king was back in charge the bishops unsurprisingly were not greatly welcomed in Scotland despite the fact that their introduction by charles ii was much more lenient and more in accordance with scottish values covenant two rebellions broke out including the one which led to the minor battle of Bothwell field in 1679 ending in a royal victory in a period of 1680 to 1689 enforcement of english religious policy increased it was known as the killing time but led to about a hundred deaths largely from the radical Cameroonian faction Charles's second ironically was a closeted Catholic throughout his life until shortly before he died in coordination with king louis xiv of france he planned to openly declare himself a catholic and ease the conditions of english Catholics but failed in this mess in 1685 charles ii died of natural causes rhe converting to Catholicism on his deathbed Charles had 14 children but not one of them was legitimate accordingly the throne passed to his brother James Charles the second had been a closeted Catholic but his 51 year old brother and heir James the seventh of Scotland and second of England was an overt Catholic this did not immediately cause a stir in Scotland however why well firstly he did not attempt to make the kingdom's Catholic along with him and more importantly his heir was a Protestant a rebellion did break out among Protestant exiles in the Netherlands who ventured to England to overthrow him but they failed in his conquest ode to a lack of support James felt he had more support than he did following this incident and advocated religious toleration of Catholics and other Christian groups this move was met with suspicion in Scotland and England as Catholics were a small minority especially in Scotland James also filled high offices including military ones with Catholics and increased the influence of the Catholic Church across the island including in Scotland Catholic churches and colleges were put up in Edinburgh where mobs protested against them fears were high of a french-led counter-reformation across Europe which James would be a part of indeed he was showing signs of wanting to bring the country back to the solecism but for the moment the Scots in English endured the situation he was pushing them but they felt that the situation would be temporary again his daughter and heir Mary was a Protestant living in the Netherlands she would reverse his changes naturally but then he had a son a son who would be raised Catholic that was the final straw the English Parliament had to act not consulting the Scots in 1688 they invited Mary's husband William to England with a request to use military intervention to make Mary the true arrogant William known as William of Orange was stockholder of the Dutch Republic and was eager to have England back on his side and his wife on the throne of England so he agreed William's force landed in England in November of 1688 not many rose up to defend the king and the royal army disbanded james ii and 7th was forced to flee France which was seen as abdication the glorious revolution as it would come to be known was a success in 1689 both William and Mary were crowned as joint monarchs as William the third and Mary the second the English had had enough of these quarrels with the Bill of Rights issued in that year the power of the Monarchs became reduced and his time with parliament gaining power and the English people gaining a number of guaranteed rights Catholics were also forbidden from becoming monarch or holding high offices little blood had been shed in England this would not be the case in Scotland or Artland the English had recognised James's flight from the country as abdication but it wasn't as much the case for Scotland a country which the king wasn't in to begin with a convention was called in Scotland to settle the issue at the convention William and Mary were confirmed as monarchs of Scotland and a settlement which mimicked England's which included by the way banning bishops from the country was reached with the claim of right and articles of grievance as always not everyone was appeased however such as John Graham Claver House by count of Dundee that year he led a rebellion consisting largely of Highland Klansmen this was the first of the Jacobite rebellions Jacobite referring to a Kobus Latin for James in a three-year conflict which saw around 4,000 Scots killed the government put down the Jacobites and the rebellion all the while a rebellion in Ireland led by James himself was also put down the Glorious Revolution was to remain a success the 1690s were known as the ill years not simply because it saw these rebellions and attacks against the Highlanders but because of famine and other problems in the country as well as failure abroad between 1695 and 1699 thousands of Scots perhaps 15% of the population died or emigrated because of a famine which was the result of poor harvests many went to Ireland England the Americas and the continent it wasn't 1695 as well that the Scots set off on perhaps their most famous pre British venture to colonize the Americas known as the Darien scheme the Darien scheme involved setting up a colony in modern-day Panama which was hoped to be lucrative as it would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans it was a nice idea and would be revisited by other nations later on but for the moment there were problems with it the colony was first of all a poorly planned and its members suffered from disease furthermore they were not even on English or Scottish land they were attempting to settle Spanish land the Spanish were not very happy to see them there by 1700 the colony was doomed following a Spanish blockade the Darien scheme had failed a huge sum of money was devoted to dis venture which harmed the Scottish economy further for this failure the English were blamed why the English hadn't offered support as they were occupied by war with France and did not want to offend the Spanish tension between England and Scotland grew as a result however the attention would interestingly not be breaking though it certainly seemed like it might be rather within just a few years the relationship between Scotland and England would become closer in an event which would reshape the history of both nations William the third died in 1702 and was succeeded by Queen Anne it was under her that in 1707 the acts of Union came into being for the past century England and Scotland had been two kingdoms under the same monarch despite of course some tumultuous Ness which saw some tension between them with the Act of Union however Scotland in England would be merged into one Kingdom the kingdom of Great Britain why did the Scots agree to this proposal the events surrounding the Union are still debated to this day pressure from England which was more open to it of course played a role the risk of a breakup was a concern at a time of increasing competition between European powers which saw England rising among them economic concerns were of major importance as well with many Scots believing that Scotland's economic well-being would be stronger with England than if they were independent England by the way having had much more success in establishing colonies around the world indeed this is what with time happened some bribery was involved but other Scots genuinely believed that this was the best course for Scotland regardless in 1707 it happened the union between the two nations solidified the Parliament of Scotland was dissolved and merged with the English Scotland and England were now Britain it was not a total unification however Scottish law did remain separate from English law any Scots retained their religious values the Scottish government may have been in favour of Union but at the time its people were largely not they feared Union meant simply becoming a subject of England mass outcry and rioting emerged over it which led to declaring Martial Law this would encourage those in Scotland who were of a more radical nature such as the Jacobites in 1714 Queen Anne died she the last Stuart monarch had had 17 pregnancies but none of them had survived accordingly the throne had to pass to a more distant relative given that Catholics were now barred from succession the closest heir was not even an Englishman nor a Scot but rather a German he was georg elector of Hanover who not knowing a word of English became King in 1714 as George the first the Hanoverian line was now in power in Britain but there were still those across the island who would rally behind these threat caused the pro Stuart Jacobites were not all necessarily proponents of divided inland and Scotland however they would take advantage of the dissatisfaction with the Union to further their cause by now James the second and seventh have been dead for years but his son James Stewart had inherited his claim to the throne in 1715 a rebellion emerged to place him on the throne as James the 3rd and 8th it came at the wrong time however the Jacobites could have depended on French assistance before about that year louis xiv of france had died and his successors were more interested in peace the rebellion of 1715 was put down by 1716 and James Stewart sought refuge in Italy another attempt was made in 1719 with Spanish support but this too decisively failed the British government tired of these insurrections disarmed the Scottish population forbidding them from carrying guns in public and then from owning them altogether they then built a series of forts and roads in the highlands to increase the reach of the military this still however was not enough to dissuade the Jacobites in 1745 as the war of Austrian succession erupted which saw France and Britain pitted against each other another rebellion occurred as James had failed before the claim to the throne had passed to Charles Stuart his son remembered history as Bonnie Prince Charlie the rebellion was to begin with French support but the French is soon abandoned the idea still Charles Stuart went ahead with his ambitions planning the uprising himself upon Charles's arrival to Scotland the Highland clans were reluctant to join him but he was able to find support his support grew after his Forrest saw success in taking Edinburgh and against the government forces at the Battle of Preston pan's just as they were gaining momentum however a government force arrived to bring it to an end at the Battle of Culloden on April 16th 17:46 2,000 Jacobites were killed compared to about 200 British soldiers the Jacobites were crushed Bonnie Prince Charlie subsequently gave up the fight and returned to exile on the continent after this debacle the British government set about searching for Jacobites in the highlands the Duke of Cumberland forces ravaged the Highland clans destroying villages and killing many government support saw new laws and acts disfavoring Highland life and the lands of rebellious clan leaders restrict and given to loyalists this moment is often marked as the beginning of the collapse of the clan system but in truth as we will see the traditional clan system was on its way out anyway the clans and Highlanders had been a challenge to the lowland government long before the union of Scotland and England even in the Middle Ages the Highlands were regarded as rebellious and lawless the British government cracked down on them further trying to pacify the area once and for all some Highlanders openly accepted the changes and became active members of British society such as in the military Highlanders spot against French forces across the globe and East Seven Years War which saw Britain and France Duke it out once again over nothing short of world domination as Scotland entered the latter half of the 18th century life began to change more profoundly England as well as France and the Low Countries were witnessing the beginning of the Industrial Revolution alongside the Enlightenment which would lead to great reforms in political social and economic life both the Industrial Revolution and enlightenment would make their mark on and find a home in Scotland the Scottish enlightenment would produce thinkers like Francis Hutcheson Adam Ferguson James Hutton David Hume and Adam Smith the father of modern economics this period also saw other important figures such as Robert Burns and James Watt as populations grew and people moved around both voluntarily and involuntarily life in Scotland became very different the Industrial Revolution would be the forests which powered the rising British Empire but not all Scots were happy about it one process which marked the age were the Highland Clearances which began as clan chiefs started turning into landlords from the 18th to 19th centuries many Highlanders tens of thousands in fact were forcibly evicted from their lands to make way for pastoral sheep farms in this time many Highlanders emigrated to the coasts where they lived difficult and impoverished lives they would become dependent on the potato crop and while the potato famines of the 19th century were not as brutal in Scotland as they were in Ireland many would starve or be driven to places like far-off North America and Oceania having few alternative options today there are an estimated 16 million Americans with Scottish scots-irish heritage along with 5 million Canadians 2 million Australians and 40,000 New Zealanders France was defeated by Britain and he's seven years war but it had come at great cost in the coming decade Britain's grip on their American colonies would slip eventually exploding into the American Revolution here a Scottish opinion would differ on events some shared the American grievances with London others however were beginning to focus on the benefits of being a part of the British Empire and keeping it strong and United on the American side itself many Patriots had Scottish and scots-irish heritage around two decades later British policy would largely be centred on France in the effects of its revolution here too Scottish opinion was divided at first it was widely supported being viewed as France moving toward what the Scottish and English had fought for a century earlier but when the revolution spiraled out of control many Scots were startled by the events which were unfolding when Napoleon took power after 10 years of revolution he unleashed his ambitions to conquer the whole of Europe which would drag Britain into war here too the Scots would play a role in Napoleon's defeat Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 following this the period of Pax Britannica or the British peace began a term modeled off the Roman pax romana in 1801 the Irish crown had murdered urged with that of Britain and the nation became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1815 to 1914 in this Pax Britannica Europe saw very few conflicts however abroad Britain was very busy and Scots played key roles in the settlement in conquests of Australia New Zealand India South Africa and beyond many of the governors-general of India were Scottish for example Scotland was also home to many industrial technological and social advances in this time Scotland also developed its identity further many Scots simultaneously portrayed themselves as indeed North Britain's but also their own unique and distinct people their identity however would never be fully agreed upon around the whole country and this is felt even today it was in 1914 however that this British piece came to a crashing end the first world war broke out which saw 700,000 Scots rally to defend Britain under Scottish commanders such as Douglas Haig of them over 100,000 were killed about 10 percent of the Scottish male fighting age population and nearly 200,000 were seriously wounded likewise in the Second World War Scotland gave him mighty effort as well losing over 50,000 and his six-year struggle they would emerge victorious but following their victory the British Empire the largest the world had ever seen but also more costly than profitable would begin to buckle under its own weight territories across the world were lost many were peacefully given independence and Home Rule until in 1997 the British Empire today Scotland remains a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the rest of Arland having left in a 20th century becoming the Republic of Ireland some Scots have wondered whether or not the Irish bid for independence was a just one in the past century Scottish autonomy has been increasing slowly in the UK the Scottish Parliament was reconvened for the first time in over 300 years in 1999 many even began champey the idea of leaving the United Kingdom themselves breaking apart the union which has existed legally since 1707 and practically since 1603 in 2014 this question was proposed to be populist both separatists and unionists have made strong arguments the Scottish independence referendum saw 55% of Scots vote to remain with the United Kingdom and thus it remains in that Union to the state I compared the idea of Scottish independence to the idea of Irish independence and moment ago but it must be kept in mind that Scotland's relationship with England has been very different than Ireland's relationship with England the former being very much in a love-hate relationship with England for the past several centuries as we have just seen the latter being an almost constant disagreement with England it is no surprise then that the question of independence in Scotland is not viewed the same way as it was in Ireland the Scottish story may be a complicated one at times but it is a great one as we've seen in these past two documentaries much more has come from this ancient and proud land than what one might have expected today Scotland faces many of the challenges that the modern world faces how Scotland will respond to these challenges is yet to be seen in full but rest assured whatever Scotland's future may be the Scots will continue to be a remarkable people who bring great things to the world I hope you enjoyed this video if so I invite you to come check out the rest of fire learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future to help support the channel a donation on patreon would be a big help a special thanks to our patrons once again listed here we are also on Instagram Facebook and Twitter so come check us out there too this has been a fire of learning history of nations and people's documentary thank you for watching and as the Scottish say good night and joy be to you all you

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 221,846

Rating: 4.8783555 out of 5

Keywords: Scotland, Britain, British Empire, Highlands, Highlanders, James VI and I, Stuarts, Union of Crowns, Independence

Id: yJo48uenHQI

Length: 57min 51sec (3471 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 20 2020