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The Claim of Right Act 1689 and the Alien Act 1705 are the two most critical historical pillars supporting the argument that the Union was structurally unlawful. Together, they demonstrate how Scotland’s foundational legal system was bypassed and how the country was economically coerced into the 1707 agreement. 1. The Claim of Right Act 1689: Scotland’s Forgotten Constitution The Claim of Right Act 1689 is a foundational document of the Scottish constitutional order. It was passed by the Estates of Scotland after King James VII was deposed.Popular Sovereignty: Unlike England's constitutional model—where the monarch-in-parliament holds absolute power—the Scottish Claim of Right established that the people of Scotland are the ultimate source of political authority.The Monarch's Conditional Power: It explicitly states that the ruler holds a "legal limited monarchy," not an "Arbitrary Despotick power". If a monarch violates the laws or the fundamental constitution, they forfeit the throne.A Treaty Condition Precedent: Groups like Salvo point out that the 1707 Treaty of Union did not extinguish the Claim of Right. Instead, the treaty was legally conditional upon its preservation.The Legality Gap: Because the Claim of Right limits parliamentary power, the 1707 Scottish Parliament did not have the constitutional authority to hand over the sovereignty of the Scottish people to a foreign parliament. Doing so directly violated Scotland's constitutional framework, rendering the Union null and void under Scottish law 2. The Alien Act 1705: State-Sponsored Coercion The Alien Act 1705 was a piece of aggressive legislation passed by the English Parliament. It was designed to force Scotland to drop its independence plans or face total ruin.The Trigger: In 1704, the Scottish Parliament passed the Act of Security. This gave Scotland the right to choose its own Protestant monarch upon Queen Anne’s death, potentially splitting the crowns again.The Ultimatum: Furious at this independence bid, Westminster passed the Alien Act 1705. It gave Scotland a strict deadline: accept the English succession and enter union negotiations by 25 December 1705, or suffer severe penalties.The Penalties:All Scots living in England were legally classified as foreign aliens.All Scottish-owned property and estates in England were subject to seizure or heavy inheritance taxes.A total trade embargo was placed on Scotland's primary exports to England and its colonies (linen, cattle, and coal), instantly cutting off roughly half of Scotland's trade. An embargo on weapons, ammunition, and horses prevented Scotland from raising a defensive military force.The Nationalist Legal Conclusion Under modern international law, a treaty signed under severe economic duress or threat of force can be considered invalid. The Alien Act 1705 proves that the Scottish commissioners did not negotiate freely; they were financially blackmailed and politically cornered.Combined with the fact that the Scottish Parliament breached its own Claim of Right 1689 by trading away the sovereignty of the people, nationalist scholars view the 1707 Acts as an unlawful, forced annexation rather than a democratic union.🤔🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👑⚔️🇬🇧