Scotland-History And Influence Essay, Research Paper

Scotland

History/English Influence

Scottish history and English history are the same because they are so close.

English influence first appeared in Scotland when Malcolm III (1005-1034) married

Princess Margaret. She introduced several reforms to the Scottish Church and imported

many English priests into Scotland. She also introduced the English language to

Scotland during her life. The next major infiltration of English culture was when David I

(1082-1153) became king. David I was also the earl of Huntingdon (in England) and

spent his childhood at English courts. The next major event was right after Alexander III

died, in 1286, when he died without any male heirs. All that he had was a 4-year old

granddaughter. Edward I of England saw this and pursued to unify England, Scotland,

and Wales. He persisted with the attempts until, in 1296, he successfully unified the

three together. This unification was not accepted by the Scots, however. They were

furious and there were wars between the two for independence. The significant one was

lead by Robert the Bruce and fought at Bannockburn in 1314. After this war,

independence was gained from the English and Robert the Bruce became King Robert I

of Scotland. For the next 200 years or so there was not much activity in Scotland. The

next

major occurrence came after Mary Queen of Scots(1542-1587) was executed by her

cousin, Elizabeth I. Her heir, her son James VI, was also Elizabeth I of England s heir as

well. Being the leader of both of the countries, he unified the two successfully once

again. This unification led to many disputes over religious beliefs between the two

countries. When the Stuart kings, Scottish family, tried to promote the Church of

Scotland as the national religion, they were countered by hostility from the Presbyterian

Church. This was just the beginning of religious disagreements between the two,

however. In 1689, the English Parliament stripped the Catholic king, James II, of his

crown and gave it two Protestant monarchs, William and Mary from Holland. This

enraged many Scottish people and became the focal point for their unrest. This group

became known as the Jacobites and fought to bring the Stuart line back to power. Many

wars were fought between the two and the Jacobites were defeated heavily in all of them.

During the 18th century, things seemed to be good for the Scottish. After the British

government built roads, so they could have better military access in case of another civil

uprising, the area began to boom in the areas of business and commerce. This boom

lasted for 100 years (1750-1850) and forever changed the way Scottish inhabitants lived.

There was an increase of industrialization, migration into urban centers, and a mammoth

wave of emigration out of Scotland to other areas. Rapid progress in the arts, science,

and education accompanied this and led Scotland into the 20th century. During the 20th

century, Scotland discovered petroleum in the North Sea. This discovery gave Scotland

and economic boost that it was searching for. And this leads us to where Scotland is at

today.

Scotland Today

Scotland is finally gained independence from England in 1998. This followed a

series of small steps taken by the Scots in the 90s. In 1997, a victory of the Labour Party

got the Scots back to thinking of independence once again. Later in that year, Scotland

set up its own legislature for the first time since 1707. One year later, the Scots gained

their independence and they are free once again.