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[/audioplayer]Birth of a nation
A reminder of how England and Scotland came to be one country:
— Proposals had been made throughout the 17th century, with English Whigs generally in favour and Tories less keen.
— For the English, there was the attraction of neutralising an old enemy. For the Scots the attractions were mainly economic. The collapse of the Darien scheme, a failed attempt to establish a Scottish colony, New Caledonia, in what is now Panama, had run up heavy losses for investors. Union would bring Scotland access to markets in England’s extensive colonies.
— The eventual negotiations, in April 1706, lasted just three days. One of the hurdles, that Scots did not want to pay English taxes, was overcome by exempting Scots from taxes on paper, windows, coal, salt and malt.
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