Our British History Index
- Alistair McConnachie
- Jul 31, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 12
A Force For Good at our "Bruce to Elizabeth: Our Great British Monarchy" Rally in Stirling on 25 June 2022.
The following Index brings together, in chronological order, all the articles and speeches on British History which we've published (so far) on this website.
Where noted, it also links to some of the articles which are published on our Legacy Site. Our Legacy site is our original site which ends ".org.uk". It was launched on 21 March 2012 and ran until 30 April 2018. We no longer publish on it but it remains online as a vital resources for authentic unionism and a valuable record of this period in British history.
Some of the history articles on our Legacy Site are scheduled to be re-published on this site. They are listed without a working link. Those links will be active when we re-publish them on this site.
To be kept up to date with our new articles, please follow our social media accounts, and please sign-up to our fortnightly email update.
We have plenty of ideas for new articles. If there are any areas you would like us to research, then please contact us with your suggestions.
The main take-aways from many of these sections include the extent to which:
1. British unionism is disproportionately a Scottish innovation.
2. The idea of Britain as one nation, the idea of being a Briton, the identity of British, and a culture of Britishness, existed long before the Parliamentary Union of 1 May 1707, and even prior to the Union of the Crowns on 24 March 1603. Those who advocate union have always been keen to point to this fact.
3. There were – and are – many reasons to support union.
4. The story of Britain is the story of union.
CONTEXT
The American poet, Ed Dorn, said: "The courting of anxiety comes from a preoccupation with the future. There's no anxiety in the past – there are only lessons there. Knowledge of the past is the only thing that can reduce anxiety about the future." In this article, we explain why we concentrate so much on our fascinating British History.
Why we Emphasise British History (30-10-22)
EARLY HISTORY
The 5,000 Year Old Union (Legacy Site)
1215: The Magna Carta: A Thoroughly British Affair (Legacy Site)
BALLIOL, WALLACE, BRUCE PERIOD (1290-1329)
SCOTTISH ORIGINS of BRITISH UNIONISM: RENAISSANCE and REFORMATION 1521-1572
This refers to the period after the catastrophic Battle of Flodden (1513), when Scots began to question the point of an alliance with France as opposed to England. It also encompasses the Reformation period when Scottish Protestants in particular were looking at the benefits of a Britain-wide alliance.
The articles are published chronologically, and represent either the publication date of the subject's most relevant work, or the year of his death.
SCOTTISH ORIGINS of BRITISH UNIONISM: THE JACOBEAN UNION and its DEBATE (1603 onwards)
This period encompasses the moment when the Scots King, James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots, became also the King of England, and declared himself "King of Great Britain".
What stands out in the following 4 articles is the belief that the nation of Britain existed as a unity prior to "Scotland" and "England"; and the desire to call the whole Island by the name of Great Britain, and its inhabitants as British.
CIVIL WAR, RESTORATION and UNION NEGOTIATIONS (1638-1660, and onto 1670)
We emphasise the British Isles-wide nature of concerns, as we look at the often violent events in the mid to late 1600s, which joined Scots and English together on the same sides, and which were creating a shared sense of British national purpose and identity.
SCOTTISH DESIRE FOR UNION: THE UNION of PARLIAMENTS
Few topics have been as popularly mis-represented through the years as the Parliamentary Union of Scotland and England! We give voice to those Scots who were for the Union and we correct some inaccuracies.
THE JACOBITES and BRITAIN (1715-1746)
We dispel some of the myths related around this period.
The British National Anthem (A concise summary of our original research article above.)
THE AGE OF ACHIEVEMENT (1746 onwards)
In these articles, and speeches, we are often addressing the attempts by some to attack "the age of achievement which characterised much of the three centuries of parliamentary union" (which is a phrase we credit to Prof Tom Gallagher at tinyurl.com/yxxj2uj3 ).
Destroying the Present by Attacking the Past (published 30-1-19)
Stand by our Ancestors (10-6-20)
Defending Dundas Against the Hateful Mob (12-6-20)
Dundas is a Hero (9-9-20)
Defending the Queen and John A Macdonald in Canada
(from our Good Morning UK broadcast on 7-7-21)>
Chris Brett, of the Nelson Society, on the false claim that Nelson supported Slavery
(from our Yule Britannia Christmas Crowdfunder broadcast on 11-12-21)>
SNP Council Dump on Edinburgh's History (16-1-22)
A History of Immigration to Britain (26-2-24)
// SUPPORT A FORCE FOR GOOD //
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