The Treaty of Union: Video playlist

While there was support for the Union from some of Scotland’s nobles and merchants, many Scots opposed uniting with England.

Many producers and consumers feared higher taxes on goods such as salt, malt and beer would damage trade and increase prices.

Many believed that England would continue to put its own trading interests first, and that Scotland’s textiles and small-scale manufacturing wouldn’t be able to compete with cheaper goods from larger English producers.

Others believed that the dissolution of the independent Scottish Parliament would threaten their national identity, and that Scotland would become “Scotlandshire”, just another region of a dominant England.

In the Westminster Parliament, there would be far fewer Scottish MPs than English ones, leading to fears that Scottish interests would be overlooked.

There were also constitutional, legal and religious concerns.

Jacobites opposed uniting with a country that accepted the Hanoverian line as monarchs.

Protesters feared that Scottish law, which was based on civil law, would be gradually taken over by the English Common Law system.

Presbyterians were concerned by future domination of the Church of England, and the return of bishops to Scotland.