Figure 1.-- The British isles has over time time been populated by many different people. Some of those people can be seen in face of this modern Scottish boy. |
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The British isles has over time time been populated by many different people. It has never until modern times been populated by by a single united people. Many different people have inhabited the northern part of Britain. The Romans called the northern area Caladonia and after failing to subdue the fierce norther tribes built Hadrians Wall to keep them out of their prosperous new province. Scotland in the modrn sence did not emerge until the Roman departure from Britain. It was an almallgum of native Picts, Irish, Cektic Britons fleeing north from the Anglo-Saxon invaders, and others. Much of the rest of Scottish history is the struggle to remain independent from the more powerful English kingdom to the south. The Anglo -Saxons were unable to get a foothold north of Northumbria. This changed with the Advent of the Normans. Edward I conquered Wales and seem posed to quickly conquer Scotland. William Wallace made it a much more difficult proposition. Robert the Bruce firmly established Scottish indepedence. Scotland was swept by the Reformation. Scotland was joined in a personal union in the person of King James I. Scotland played a major role in launching the English Civil War. The personal union in the person of the monarchy was followed by the Act of Unionn under Queen Anne. Scotland played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. The final Highland effort to break with England was the Jacobin rising of 1745 led by Bonny Prince Charley--the Stuart pretender. This led to the Higland enclosures and immigration, especially to America. While the Scotts failed to break away from England, the backwoods Scott-Irish played a major role in the American success during the Revolutionary War.
The British isles has over time time been populated by many different people. It has never until modern times been populated by by a single united people. Many different people have inhabited the northern part of Britain. The Scotts as a people did not begin to form until the departure of the Eomans from Britain. The Scotts are an almallgum of native Picts, Irish, and Romanized Celtic Britons fleeing north from the Anglo-Saxon invaders.
The Scottish are ethnicaly destinct from the English. The Celts that populated southern Britain never penetrated northern Britain where other tribes such as the Picts were dominant. And the Romans who conquered Celtic Britain (1st century AD) decided that the conquest of northern Britain was not worth the effort. The result was Hadiran's Wall in northern England.
The Romans called the northern area Caladonia and after failing to subdue the fierce norther tribes built Hadrians Wall to keep them out of their prosperous new province. Scotland in the modrn sence did not emerge until the Roman departure from Britain.
With the departure of the Legions (5th centuiry AD), Scotland and England developed differently. Anglo-Saxon invaders conquered Roman Britain, but like the Romans did not pentrate the north. The Anglo-Saxons were unable to get a foothold north of Northumbria. This changed with the Advent of the Normans. Romanized Celts were pushed west and north. Irish celtic tribes also entered northern Britain at this time. As a result, Scotland took on a Celtic character that it had not had previously.
Scottish history after the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England (1066) was a long struggle to preserve independence. A series of English monarchs campaigned in the north to bring the Scottish kingdom under English control, some like Edward I with considerable success. Edward I conquered Wales and seem posed to quickly conquer Scotland. William Wallace made it a much more difficult proposition. Robert the Bruce firmly established Scottish indepedence.
Southern Scotland (the Lowlands) became heavily Anglicized the beginning of the adoption of the English language. Scottish heros are today the leaders who resisted the English, men like Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. This was a difficult struggle for Scotland as it was a much smaller country. In this struggle, Scotland found an ally in France which was often at war with England. The struggle was at first dynastic, nut a sence of Scottish nationality gradually emerged from the struggle.
While the Reformation in England was initaited by the monarchy, in Scotland in occurred in spite of the opposition of the monarchy, although supported by the English.The Reformation was preceeded by a rising sence of popular disatisfaction with the Catholic clergy. Both Lollardy and Wycliffe in England had influenced some. Merchants and the minor nobility were the first to embrace the Reformation, not only for religius reasons, but as a vehicle for independe from both England and France. Protestant teaching reached Scotland only a few years after Martin Lurther launched tghe Reformation. As early as 1522 the Royal Government was attempting to stop the circulation of Luthern books. Early Reformation leaders like Patrick Hamilton were adherents of Luther, but John Knox led the Scottish Reformation to a Calvinist confession. John Knox lived for a time in Geneva and was influenced by John Calvin. He became the driving force of the Reformation in Scotland. Know was the first spokesman for Presbyterianism. Knox persuaded the Scottish Parliament to adopt a confession and book of discipline modeled on those develooped by Calvin in Geneva (1560). Parliament created the Scottish Presbyterian Church governed by local kirks. Mary Queen of Scotts attempted to attempted to reinstate the Catholic Church, but was friven to exile in England. Her infant son James, the future James I of England, was kept in Scotland and eventually tutored by Presbyterian scholars. The Catholic Church was reduced to minor importance, except for a few districts in the north.
The success of the Reformation had a powerful affect on education as it did in parts of Germazny and norther Europe. Education until the Reformation had been an experience reserved for the elite. First it was a province of the Church. But as Feudal Europe began to mature it also was extended to the aristocracy and developing middle class. This was a very small part of the population. The peasantry which was the great bulk of the populstion was not educated and klsrgely iliterate. The Church except for its priests saw no need to educate the peasantry nor did the aristocracy who saw the peadsantry as an important source of cheap lanor for their estates. A central aspect of the Reformation, however, was that individusls did not need a priesthood to intermediate beteen them and God. Rather they should seek salvation through study of the Bible. The Catholic Church had not incouraged people to read the Bible. Church kleaders saw a lot of problems that could come from Bible study. Differences over scripture could easily split the Church as it did with the Reformstion. And Pritestants soon experienced the same problem as Lutherans soon foundmany other Protestant denominations forming. But despite differences in threoilogy, Protestants tendec to see Bible study as centrsal; to the religion. And to read the Bible, tne population had to be educated. As a result, public education first appeared in Protestant Europe. And Scotland was one such place. England with its Anglican Church of England did not see the need for public education that developed in Scotland.
James VI of Scotland (son of Mary Queen of Scotts) inherited the English crown after the death of Elizabeth I. James ruled England as James I. Thus Scotland joined England through the personal union of the monarchy, but the countries were not unified. Both had national parliaments. This situation continued in the 17th century through a series of Stuart monarchs.
Scotland played a major role in launching the English Civil War. There was talk of Union, but for various reasons it was not accomplished. Finally England forced the issue, threatening to deny Scottish merchants access to English colonies. Scotlan never suceeded it founding its own colonies. Thiswould have meant economic disaster for Scotland. The result was the Act of Union finally achieved during the reign of the last Stuart mlnsrch--Queen Anne (1707). Scotland since the 18th century and the Act of Union (1707) has been a contituent part of the United Kingdom with a common monarch and parliament. Despite being part of the United Kingdom, the Act of Union reserved certain perogarives for Scotland. The Church of Scotland was not affected. And Scottish common law prevailed. Education was left in the hands of Scottih authorities.
Scotland played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. The final Highland effort to break with England was the Jacobin rising of 1745 led by Bonny Prince Charley--the Stuart pretender. This led to the Higland enclosures and immigration, especially to America. While the Scotts failed to break away from England, the backwoods Scott-Irish played a major role in the American success during the Revolutionary War.
