Scottish immigrant telephone

From16th century, Europeans colonized and expanded the world. Britain is not a unified country at this time, and England and Scotland are two independent countries.

England participated in colonial activities very early, while Scotland focused on preventing England. It was not until 1707 that they became the "Kingdom of Britain" and formed the main body of modern Britain (180 1 Ireland was changed to "Britain and Ireland").

Modern Britain includes four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (after Ireland's independence, 1927 was renamed as "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"), in which Scotland has the same status as England, and Wales and Northern Ireland also have certain autonomy. Now these four football teams are participating in the World Cup in their own names, which shows that their relationship is not the same as that of a unitary country.

In the more than 100 years after the establishment of the "British Kingdom" in the18th century, this country has developed into the strongest and largest colonial empire in human history, with colonies all over the continents except Antarctica.

However, the Scots who enjoy autonomy have almost no colonies of their own. Why?

I. Conquest and union

In terms of ethnic composition, English people are mainly of Germanic descent, while Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are mostly of Celtic descent. Celts and Germans are the oldest peoples in Europe. The ancient Romans thought that their culture and beliefs were far behind themselves, so they were called "barbarians".

Celts originally lived in the plains of western Europe and were called Gauls by the ancient Romans. They arrived in Britain around 500 BC. When the Roman Empire rose, the Celts were still in the tribal era, with only a few small-scale kingdoms and extremely scattered forces.

▲ Ancient Celtic national costumes, military courage is their national character.

The expansion of the Roman Empire not only severely weakened the Celtics in the western European plain, but also seized the most fertile south of the British Island and established provinces. Although the Celtics are less and less in the European continent and the southern part of the British Island, they are very brave and tenacious, firmly occupying the northern plateau and the southwest coastal area of the British Island.

Germans originally lived in northern Europe. With the climate change, they kept going south and crossed the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the 5th century, in order to suppress the Celts, the Roman Empire migrated a large number of German mercenaries from the European continent. Unexpectedly, after these Germanic mercenaries from Anglo-Saxon tribes settled down, they launched a rebellion and occupied the imperial territory.

At the same time, more Germanic tribes went south from northern Europe, impacting the border of the empire, and the crumbling empire could no longer take care of this remote province. As a result, the southern plains of Britain became the territory of Anglo-Saxons, who called themselves English.

In the following hundreds of years, the wars in the British Isles continued, and the Celts were all in the mountains, which were not suitable for farming and were inferior to the English in all aspects. The Celts in the north and southwest of the island evolved into Scots and Welsh respectively, and their languages and customs were different from those of the English.

With the most fertile land and advanced culture absorbed from the ancient Roman empire, the British gradually gained an overwhelming advantage. /kloc-At the beginning of the third century, they first conquered Wales and turned it into their subordinate principality.

England's conquest of Scotland was not smooth, as it has been for centuries. Scots are not only brave and tenacious, but also have a strong sense of independence They also used the contradiction between Britain and France many times to successfully restore the country. In order to win over Scottish nobles, the royal family of England and the royal family of Scotland married, but inadvertently created opportunities for the merger of the two countries.

▲ James VI is both the king of Scotland and the king of England, but his real power is limited.

1603, Queen Elizabeth I died, and her nephew James VI succeeded to the throne. James VI was also king of Scotland. In this way, England and Scotland became the * * * main federation, enjoying a king, but still retaining their respective parliaments and governments, and their sovereignty was completely independent.

At this time, the European continent has set off a climax of great navigation and colonial expansion. Although England is not a pioneer, it is a strong participant and competitor. Scotland can't stand loneliness and wants to share a piece of colonial activities. Unexpectedly, it fell into the trap of the British and lost its national independence.

Second, the failed Scottish colony.

Spain was the first colonial empire to dominate the ocean, and the British constantly weakened Spain's national strength through pirates. 1588 After defeating the Spanish Armada, England gradually gained the military superiority in the Atlantic Ocean and began to colonize North America.

Britain was not the strongest country in Europe at first. Spain and France have surpassed England in national strength and military strength, and the Netherlands also has strong maritime power. Spain and France have been fighting for European hegemony, consuming a lot of energy and resources, while England has focused on expanding its colonies overseas and its strength has grown rapidly.

▲ 1588 After defeating the Spanish Armada, the British colonial empire began to rise.

From the colonial ship "Mayflower" in 1620, England successively opened up 13 colonies in North America. By the end of 17, the colonial population of North America was nearly 3 million, more than a quarter of the total population of the British Isles, and relatively developed agriculture, manufacturing and commerce were established, which greatly enhanced the national strength of England.

/kloc-After the religious revolution broke out in continental Europe in the 6th century, England and Scotland chose to convert to Protestantism, but the Anglican Church belongs to the Anglican Church and Scotland belongs to the Presbyterian Church (Calvin). Although the pro-British forces in Scotland have always advocated the merger of the two countries, ethnic and religious differences and historical grievances have made most Scots not relax their vigilance, and many wars have broken out between the two countries.

Scotland has poor land, small population, frequent natural disasters, and is blocked by England's maritime trade routes, so its national strength is getting weaker and weaker, the national treasury can't make ends meet, and the financial crisis is getting deeper and deeper. Seeing the fruitful overseas colonization of England, the Scots also used their brains to plan to leave Scotland and establish their own colonial kingdom.

The first target they chose was Darien Bay, located in present-day Panama. Although it belongs to the sphere of influence of Spain, no one developed it at that time. Regrettably, the Scots have been busy fighting the English for hundreds of years, and have hardly participated in the competition of big countries, and they know little about international relations.

Although the Darien Bay they chose was barren, it was close to Spanish colonies and sea routes, which made the Spanish feel threatened. 1699, two groups of Scots * * * more than 2500 people spent more than half a year, just opened up farmland, fortresses and ports, ready to build them into a forward base for further colonization, when the Spanish army came to you.

Spain is cruel not only to native Americans, but also to white Europeans. All the buildings were destroyed by the fire, and all the people died, even women and children. Only 300 Scots survived and fled back to China, and Scotland's colonial plan died.

▲ The remains of Scots in Darian Bay. These stone walls failed to stop the Spanish massacre.

What makes the Scots miserable is that the start-up capital of Dalian Bay Colony is about 400,000 pounds, or about 150 tons of silver, which is equivalent to Scotland's fiscal revenue for one year. Moreover, this money is almost all the nobles in Scotland. When the plan failed, I realized that the money was gone, and the whole country and nobility were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Scottish dissatisfaction with the government reached its peak, and pro-England forces took the opportunity to force the government to agree to merge with England. First, because England is willing to pay for this huge loss, and second, with the help of England's maritime advantages, Scotland has a bright future.

▲ The seat of the British Parliament

1707, the Scottish Parliament was merged into the English Parliament in London, and the Kingdom of Great Britain was established by abolishing their respective titles. Nominally a merger. In fact, England is dominant in all aspects. The number of Scottish parliamentarians only accounts for about one-seventh of the parliament, and the fields of national defense and diplomacy are also decided by England.

Many people think that the failure of the Scottish colonial plan is a trap for the British. From beginning to end, the English not only failed to provide any help, but also prevented the Scots from going to Europe to raise money, forcing them to dig out all the money, which led to the final dilemma and finally allowed the English people to succeed in their ambitions.

Since Europeans colonized the world, failed colonies have been common, and Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and England are no exception. However, like Scotland, it is really unique that one failure destroyed the whole country.

In addition to Darian Bay, Scotland also acquired a small colony in New Jersey in North America, which is half that of modern New Jersey, with an area of about 1 1,000 square kilometers, which lasted from 1 1,674 to 1 1,702, and was later annexed by the English. This Scottish colony named Dong Ze West didn't have much influence and didn't help Scotland.

Third, the colonial empire.

After the merger of the two countries, the British island finally completed its reunification and began to expand outward with all its strength, and the overseas colonies grew rapidly. Thirteen colonies in North America have expanded to the Mississippi River, and colonies such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand have been established one after another, and colonies in India and the Far East are also advancing steadily.

With the rise of the British navy, traditional colonial powers such as Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands are declining, and most of their overseas colonies are seized by the British. By the end of 18, Britain had become the largest colonial power.

Compared with other colonial countries, the British Empire paid more attention to using business models to explore colonies, such as Virginia Company, which first landed in North America, and East India Company, which colonized the Far East. These colonial companies, which are funded by the people and have trade and combat functions, are the deep-water bombs of the British colonial empire.

The colony began to take shape, and after the establishment of autonomous institutions, the British king sent a governor to manage it. There are also some colonies that the king gave to the nobles and were ruled by the nobles themselves. In addition, the British can also sign contracts with indigenous people in their own names to gain local sovereignty, just like in Brunei.

▲ The British navy reached its peak in the early 20th century, surpassing the sum of the second and third generation navies.

It can be seen that overseas colonies are nominally loyal to the king, and there is almost no regional color like England and Scotland. Moreover, the colony has its own parliament and other autonomous regimes, and its actual status is higher than that of Scotland. This mode determines that Scots can only participate in colonial activities in their own name.

However, it is this model that makes the independence of overseas colonies easier and more convenient. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are all peaceful and independent. Except for the thirteen colonies in North America, they became the United States by force. The original political institutions were all retained, but only upgraded to the state.

Fourth, overseas immigrants from Scotland.

Under this colonial mode, which is dominated by commerce and only loyal to the king, Scots no longer have independent colonial plans, but their enthusiasm for participating in colonization has not disappeared, but has become even higher. According to statistics, the number of Scots who immigrated to North America in the whole18th century was almost equal to that of the English, and there were many Scots in other colonies.

The Scots, who inherited the brave spirit of the Celts, especially liked to join the army and made great contributions to the establishment of the empire and global hegemony. Scottish bagpipes have become the most prominent symbol of the modern British army.

▲ Scottish bagpipes and plaid skirts are the most prominent Scottish national symbols.

After getting the overseas market of the British Kingdom, the local economy of Scotland has also developed rapidly. Coupled with the catalytic effect of the industrial revolution, Scotland has established powerful industries such as coal mining, shipbuilding and machinery.

Although there are no independent colonies, the Scots have formed a certain scale of settlements in some colonies. There are many Scots in the south of the thirteen colonies in North America, and many areas that the English disdain to operate are occupied by relatively poor Scots.

At present, there are/kloc-0.5 million Scottish descendants living abroad, which is three times the population of Scotland. Mainly distributed in former British colonies, they are all descendants of Scots who participated in overseas colonization.

▲ Every year, Scots all over the United States hold various activities to commemorate their ancestors' landing in North America.

Although Scots actively participated in the process of colonial expansion and national development, they deepened their sense of identity with the United Kingdom. Although the vast majority of Scots no longer speak Scottish Gaelic, which evolved from Celtic, they still remember their Scottish identity and want to distinguish the English from themselves whenever possible.

In addition to the fact that national defense and diplomacy must be controlled by Britain, Celtic nations such as Scotland try their best to participate in unofficial activities held in Europe, such as the World Cup, in order to show their national characteristics.