Act of Union Essay

Assess the causes of the lay out of marriage ceremony of 1800, and consider the ways in which the Articles of Union themselves were intended to illuminate the apparent problems in Irelands constitutional, political and religious relationship with England. Your try out must make reference to the relevant document studied in seminar 5. There were several significant causes of the deed of Union between coarse Britain and Ireland in 1800, most notably, the joined Irishmen rebellion of 1798, along with the french landing at Killala in North Mayo. The United Irishmen, a radical merge religious group, had began a campaign against British rule in Ireland in 1798.This rebellion was centered around Wexford, Wicklow and a Protestant linen thespian rebellion in Antrim. The rebellion was poorly organized and coordinated, and many a(prenominal) split of the country were left undisturbed. Although it was yet other rebellion by the Irish that was defeated, it fast forwarded the long sta nding idea that a political, constitutional and soldiers union was needed between the two countries to prevent further war, or even worse, for Ireland to become a stepping st iodin in a French infringement of The British Isles.The worry about a French invasion starting in Ireland was compounded by a sm alone French landing in north Mayo, that led to two battles, at Castlebar and B wholeinamuck. The French landing was requested by Wolfe Tone, a protestant who was viewed as the draw of the United Irishmen. Wolfe Tone was influenced by the French and American Revolutions, and passed this influence onto the United Irishmen. The fact that the American Revolution had occurred so recently similarly had another study bearing on the Act of Union. the British fantan did not want to lose another colony, especially not one this cozy to home.This most likely would feature being seen as a major weakness by the other European powers of the clock time. The French revolution, which promise d freedom to all religions and races, and equal rights to all men would to a fault have being seen as a menace to George III, the current monarch, whos coronation Oath held him to bear on and secure the Protestant faith. Article Fifth of the Act of Union combine the Church of Ireland and the Church of England into one central Protestant Episcopal Church. It also made the protestant faith the official religion of Ireland.The unity of the churches would also have bred the hope that more of the Catholic majority in Ireland would be converted. This would have being a vital cause for the union acquire voted through the all protestant Irish parliament, as the protestants were outnumbered by Catholics in the general population at a ratio of 311. Should the Act of Union pass, they would be on the opposite side, it would be a 311 protestant majority. On a related topic, Robert Peel had antecedent being responsible for the ending of several of the penal laws, all since the threat of war began in France.In 1793 Catholics could vote and become lawyers for the first time. He also played a part in the abstract of Poynings Law, which allowed the Irish parliament to ordinate its own laws without influence from London for the first time since the Norman Invasion. withal, vitally, he could not hold his nerve to repeal the punishable law that stopped Catholics from holding a place in parliament and many Irish people would have thought this was the most important, as they could only vote for the entirely protestant government.Pitt had supported the Act Of Union in 1800, but had originally planned to follow it with more distant reaching ideas, such as Catholic emancipation. However George III, after sign the Act of Union into law in August 1800, refused to support broad(a) Catholic emancipation on the basis that it would be contrary to his Coronation Oath. While the Act of Union was defeated the first time in the Irish parliament, it was passed on the secondly time of asking. Certain peerages, pensions and certain honors were offered to Irish politicians and Irish critics in return for voting for the act in the second time of asking.The first attempt to pass the law was beaten 109 votes against to 104 votes for, but, on the second time of asking in 1800, the results showed 150 for, compared to 115 against. Also, since the repeal of Poynings law, the Irish had being in charge of their own finances, and had bankrupt the country. When more the same thing had happened to Scotland in the 17th century, a Union with Britain had helped the sparing overcome their financial difficulties. The Act of Union was intended to solve many of Irelands problems in different ways.Article first stated that Ireland and Britain would be unify into one Kingdom, by the Name of the United Kingdom of peachy Britain and Ireland. This basically made Ireland a sister kingdom to Britain, with the same laws, religion and parliament. However as time showed, these sister kin gdoms were not treated equally, with very exact worry being given to the Great Famine of 1845-49. Although it may initially have being seen to calm some insurgency in Ireland, it was not a suitable long-term arrangement unless great measures were taken to fool the large Catholic majority.These measures were not taken, and Catholic Ireland still felt like it was being given the short straw without emancipation. Article Second manifestly stated that the continuation of the Imperial pinnacle shall continue limited and colonized in the same manner as the Succession to the Imperial Crown of the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. This was to ensure that a protestant was always loss to be in power as a monarch in Great Britain, and that the new Union with Ireland would not have an influence on the process of picking a new king or queen.The troika article was perhaps the most important in terms of change, as it was the article that fully combined the two parliaments into a s ingle entity. This was the most influential article, as it caused many of the upper class representatives that Ireland would have to endure out of Dublin and over to London, to be closer to political affairs. This caused a decline in the importance of Dublin as a major European city, and shifted most of the influential Irish people out of the country.It may also have lead to the idea of Absentee landlords, another thing that was seen by the Irish as a cause of the Great Famine. Article quartern was simply involved in the representation of Ireland in the new parliament. The option of 28 Electoral Lords for life would have guaranteed a continuation of protestant ascendancy in the British House of Lords. This would not have went comfortably with the catholic majority of Ireland as they would have zero representation in the House of Lords, which had the ability to veto any laws passed by the House of Commons. each chance of a law hat passed a pro-Catholic law would have being immedia tely put down by the protestant powers in the House of Lords, so even if George III did not veto the hopes for Catholic emancipation then the House of Lords would surely have. The 8th article was a constitutional article that ensured the continuation of all laws from before the act, in two Britain and Ireland. It stated That all Laws in force at the time of the Union, and all the Courts of Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within the respective Kingdoms, shall remain as now by Law established within the sameThis was a safety mechanism to prevent any problems with the transition between divert and united kingdoms. If this article had not being put in place then, theoretically the parliament in London would have had to enact new laws that could potentially damage the political and hostile situation in Ireland. As you can see, the Act of Union was hoped to be a aeonian solution to the problems in Ireland, and planned to consolidate the British Isles under one rulership.The Artic les in the Act of Union attempted to promote the protestant faith, in particular the Anglican faith, in Ireland, and in the long term hoped to turn the rebellious Catholic majority into equal citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Although it was unsuccessful in the long run, it was a historic event that worked in other parts of the empire, such as Scotland.