A British Law of Treason, 1709–83

Abstract

This chapter explores what the treason trials and treason law reveal about the relationship between allegiance, national identity and authority in mid-eighteenth-century Britain. First, we consider what effect a British treason law (1709) had on the understanding of treason and allegiance. To ensure the English Protestant succession would not be undermined in any way, England forced a Treaty of Union with Scotland. While the Scots retained their civil laws and Presbyterian Church, they lost their parliament and, shortly thereafter, their law of treason.