The Act of Union: Death or Reprieve for the Highlands? A Study of the Socio-Economic Impact of the Union on the Highlands of Scotland, 1707-1745

This thesis assesses the impact of the Union of 1707, the political and economic Union that joined Scotland and England under one Parliament, and foreign policy, creating the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It focuses on the four major aspects of Highland society: the clan structure; the political structure of post-Union Scotland; the economy in the larger European, and British contexts; and the migratory patterns of the Highlanders, both within Britain and in the American Colonies.