Editing United Kingdom (section)

=== Union of England and Scotland ===
{{Main|Treaty of Union|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
[[File:John_Wilson_Carmichael_-_The_opening_engagement_at_Trafalgar;_H.M.S._'Royal_Sovereign'_raking_the_stern_of_the_Spanish_flagship_'Santa_Ana'.jpg|thumb|The opening engagement at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], by [[James Wilson Carmichael|J.W. Carmichael]]]]
On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, the result of the [[Acts of Union 1707]] between the [[Kingdom of England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Articles of Union with Scotland 1707 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm |access-date=19 October 2008 |publisher=UK Parliament |archive-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608152446/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Acts of Union 1707 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny |access-date=6 January 2011 |publisher=UK Parliament |archive-date=27 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227033859/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/ |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Treaty (act) of Union 1706 |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527074630/http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-date=27 May 2019 |access-date=3 February 2011 |publisher=Scottish History online }}</ref> In the 18th century, cabinet government developed under [[Robert Walpole]], in practice the first prime minister (1721–1742). A series of [[Jacobite uprisings]] sought to remove the Protestant [[House of Hanover]] from the throne and restore the Catholic [[House of Stuart]]. The Jacobites were finally defeated at the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746, after which the [[Scottish Highlanders]] were forcibly assimilated into Scotland by revoking the feudal independence of [[Scottish clan chief|clan chiefs]]. The British colonies in North America that broke away in the [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]] became the [[United States]]. British imperial ambition turned towards Asia, particularly to [[India]].<ref>Library of Congress, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA73 ''The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140724/https://books.google.com/books?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA73 |date=28 March 2024 }}, p. 73.</ref>

British merchants played a leading part in the [[Atlantic slave trade]], mainly between 1662 and 1807 when British or British-colonial [[slave ships]] transported nearly 3.3&nbsp;million slaves from Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA12 |title=Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-156627-1 |page=12 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141229/https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The slaves were taken to work on [[Plantation economy|plantations]], principally in the [[History of the British West Indies|Caribbean]] but also [[British America|North America]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA15 |title=Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-156627-1 |page=15 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141229/https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> However, with pressure from the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolitionism movement]], Parliament banned the trade in 1807, banned slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and Britain took a leading role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide through the [[blockade of Africa]] and pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103004954/https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml |date=3 November 2008 }}. BBC Devon. 2007.; {{Cite book |last=Lovejoy |first=Paul E. |url=https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love/page/290 |title=Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-521-78012-4 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love/page/290 290] }}</ref>