Zach Musgrave

HIST 499 – Issue Statement

14 May 2008

 

            Throughout the history of the British Isles the English kingdoms and people have often been a dominating force. However, it is clear after a brief inspection of the isles’ ethnographic makeup that the English are not the only people occupying the Isles; in fact, they are but one of many. Despite all efforts to dominate their neighbors’ homelands they have never quite succeeded at completely subjugating them. Rather, relations with races such as the Irish and Scots have varied drastically over the years, as the policies of the English government ebb and flow. It is this complex and nebulous relationship, born of a desire for empire that defines the overall political structure of the United Kingdom today. As such, this summer I plan on investigating both the Irish and Scottish resistances to British rule and hegemony. Reid Sanders will join me on this project.

            Especially with respect to English hegemony of the Scottish people and country, the most defining moment in more recent history is the passage of the Acts of Union in 1707. The Acts united the kingdoms of Scotland and England into the kingdom of Great Britain, and in addition to being a symbolic matter of England’s cemented domination, the Acts unified the governments (but not the law systems) of the two countries.

            As such, I believe it would be enlightening to visit Parliament House in Edinburgh, where the Scottish parliament met until 1707. Ever since, the building has housed the High Courts of Scotland. To research the differing of Scottish law from English common law it seems prudent to visit this building, since it represents the uniqueness of the Scottish spirit, both as a former house of parliament and as a high court.

            Another unique place I would like to visit for this project is Edinburgh Castle. As the seat of the Scottish monarchy from the eleventh century onward, the castle is inextricably intertwined with Scottish nationalism and independence. Robert the Bruce reigned there, and later Cromwell’s New Model Army occupied it. It has seen many kings and was occupied by the English during both the First and Second Scottish Wars of Independence. Tours are available, and I feel actually seeing the Castle that played a part in almost all of Scotland’s affairs would be invaluable.

            Also situated in Scotland is the Stone of Scone, an oblong block of red sandstone that has been present for Scottish, English and now British coronations for over a thousand years. The Blarney Stone of Ireland is said to be a fragment of it. Now residing at Edinburgh Castle, the Stone of Scone was originally kept at the Abbey of Scone where Edward I captured it in 1296. Since then English (British) monarchs have sat on it in their Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. It symbolizes their dominion over Scotland and their age-old subjugation of the country. In this respect, the Stone of Scone is possibly the most age-old symbol of England’s link to and hegemony over their northern neighbors, and as such it has great relevance to my project.

            If the Scots in recent centuries calmed down in their resistance to the English, the Irish probably intensified their dislike. Only for the past century or so has most of Ireland been an independent state. Since around the tenth century, most or all of Ireland was in some way under control of the English monarch. This control has varied in intensity and brutality, but as a whole the Irish people have not quite reacted fondly to the sustained British presence on their island.

            The quintessential Irish conflict was the War of Independence between 1919 and 1921. It was prompted in part by the First World War’s effects on the British government and in part by the earlier Easter Rising, which took place in 1916. It symbolized the anti-Union, anti-English sentiments of most ethnic Irish at the time and served as the birth of the modern Irish state. Furthermore, the Irish War of Independence met the desires of the Irish people for a government more removed from Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth.

            The Easter Rising took place mostly within Dublin, and one of the most notable strongholds of the rebels was the General Post Office. It was from this huge Georgian building that the leaders of the rising orchestrated the rebels’ activities. It’s also one of the most significant symbols of Irish nationalism; its front pillars still have bullet marks from when the British forces stormed the building. I feel this building is the quintessential embodiment of Irish resistance to British rule, and as such should be visited. There are other sites also around Dublin, such as the Four Courts and the biscuit factory, that were also points of conflict in the Easter Rising so we might visit those as well.

            Previous to the Irish hostilities in the twentieth century the most notable rebellion was that of 1798, when Irish rebels fought for their cause of Republicanism against the British-controlled Kingdom of Ireland. The Battle of Vinegar Hill was this war’s turning point, and the last time Irish rebels put up a concerted defense against their mainly English adversaries. Taking place in Wexford, the battlefield and the hill still can be visited today. I feel that visiting Wexford would lend the project a sense of the futility the Irish experienced during much of their existence, fighting a much more numerous and superior force.

            By visiting all the aforementioned sites (and possibly a few others we haven’t thought of yet) I believe Reid and I can achieve a firm understanding of the cultural and political machinations associated with Ireland and Scotland and their resistance to British hegemony. Through visiting many cultural and historical sites I hope we can increase our knowledge of these related countries, and how their big neighbor to the south and east (England) has bossed them around over the years.