| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | Act for the Security of the Kingdom. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1704 c. 3 [12mo ed: c. 3] |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Repeal of Certain Scotch Acts 1707 |
Status: Repealed | |
TheAct of Security 1704 (c. 3), also referred to as theAct for the Security of the Kingdom, was a response by theParliament of Scotland to theParliament of England'sAct of Settlement 1701.Queen Anne's last surviving child,William, Duke of Gloucester, had died in 1700, and both parliaments needed to find a Protestant successor. The English Parliament had settled on ElectressSophia of Hanover, granddaughter of KingJames VI and I, without consulting the Scottish Parliament.
The response of the Scottish Parliament was to pass a bill in 1703[1] requiring that, on the death of Queen Anne without issue, the three Estates of the Parliament were to appoint a Protestant successor from the descendants of theScottish kings, but not the English successor unless various economic, political and religious conditions were met. The bill was refusedroyal assent by theLord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland.
The following year, 1704, the bill became an act after the Scottish Parliament refused to raise taxes and sought to withdraw troops from theDuke of Marlborough's army in theWar of the Spanish Succession unless royal assent was given.
TheEnglish Parliament retaliated with theAlien Act 1705,[2] threatening to cut trade and free movement between the two countries,[1] unless negotiations opened leading either to the repeal of the Act of Security, or (as in the event happened) to anAct of Union. The result was the Union of England andScotland into theKingdom of Great Britain in 1707, approximately one hundred years after theUnion of the Crowns.
TheParliament of Great Britain passed an act, theRepeal of Certain Scotch Acts 1707 (6 Ann. c. 32) explicitly repealing this act together with thePeace and War Act 1703 (c. 6) (S)).
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