The abolition of the Scottish and Irish Parliaments in 1707 and 1800 created a United Kingdom centred upon the Westminster legislature. This text discusses what this meant for the four nations involved, and how conceptions of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh identities were affected.

In 1660 the four nations of the British Isles were governed by one imperial crown but by three parliaments. The abolition of the Scottish and Irish Parliaments in 1707 and 1800 created a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland centred upon the Westminster legislature. What did the making of the monolith mean for the four nations? Did conceptions of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh identities flourish, change or wither as a consequence to the growth of the imperial Parliament, and to what extent did Parliament help or hinder a developing sense of Britishness as a new nationality? This volume address these questions from a variety of perspectives, showing how the parliaments at Dublin, Edinburgh and Westminster, were seen and used in very different ways by people from very different communities.

1. Introduction - Julian Hoppit
2. Legislating for three kingdoms: how the Westminster Parliament legislated for England, Scotland and Ireland, 1707-1830 - Joanna Innes
3. Local identities and a national Parliament, c. 1688-1835 - Rosemary Sweet
4. Church, Parliament and national identity, c. 1770 - c. 1830 - G. M. Ditchfield
5. The landed interest and the national interest, 1660-1800 - Julian Hoppit
6. Patriots and legislators: Irishmen and their parliaments, c. 1689 - c. 1740 - David Hayton
7. The Scots, the Westminster Parliament, and the British state in the eighteenth century - Bob Harris
8. Government, Parliament and politics in Ireland, 1801-41 - Peter Jupp
9. Parliament and international law in the eighteenth century - David Armitage
10. Slaves, sati and sugar: constructing imperial identity through Liverpool petition struggles - Joshua Civin
11. Colonial representation at Westminster, c. 1800-60
Index