Ferguson's Benefits To The Nobility

Lehman described the devastation that the Alien Act would have caused as a ‘formidable economic bludgeon’ especially for the nobility. The importance of the benefit to the nobility is highlighted by the Scottish Marxist historian Dickson who argued the reasons behind the union were ‘thoroughly bourgeois.’ He further argues that continued wealth accumulation through exports to England and her colonies and the expectation of military protection for mercantile activities made the treaty the rational choice for the Scottish aristocracy. Though while he Ferguson largely supports the claims of Dickson, he refuted the determinist argument instead citing the role of ‘management’ in passing the treaty, in particular the increasing role of ‘patronage and influence’, bribery and the ineffectiveness of ‘divided opposition forces.’ This is further supported by Riley who blames the short term vision of the politicians at the very least and ’squalid aims’ at the most, Riley argues that trade did not feature prominently in
While the Scottish did not appreciate the English interference in their colonial trade, Cambell argued that in the circumstances such as the Darian scheme when the Scottish conflicted with the English ‘the consequences could not be disastrous.’ Smout finds that James Scot parliamentary representative of the burgh of Montrose urged his people to vote for the the Union fearing that alienation from Britain would ‘deprive of the only valuable branch’, which was their trade in linen cloth. This source shows that at least in some areas of Scotland people were aware of the depravity they would face if the trade with Britain was