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Scots and the Declaration of Independence OF the fifty-six members of the Continental Congress of 1776 who signed the Declaration of Independence, James Wilson of Pennsylvania and John Witherspoon of New Jersey were natives of Scotland. Nearly half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were among the descendants of Scots who fled to America from the cruel arms of persecution. James Wilson, a mastermind behind the American War for Independence, was Scottish born and raised. The declaration strongly affirmed Scotland’s independence, reinforcing the Scottish identity against English rule. It served as a representation of the collective desire of the Scottish people, strengthening their determination to resist foreign influence. But there is so much more than these few figures that bind the land of bagpipes, tartan kilts, haggis and the Loch Ness Monster to the origin story of the United States. Did you know that the 1320 Scottish Declaration of Independence — also known as the Declaration of Arbroath — lent great influence to the 1776 Declaration of Independence? But just a cursory look at the men involved in drafting and signing the declaration reveal a strong Scottish influence. Of the 56 signatories of the declaration it is estimated that at the least a third were either Scots by birth or of Scottish descent. This number, by some people’s estimates, rises to three-quarters. [f] The Declaration made a number of points: that Edward I of England had unjustly attacked Scotland and perpetrated atrocities; that Robert the Bruce had delivered the Scottish nation from this peril; and, most controversially, that the independence of Scotland was the prerogative of the Scottish people, rather than the King of Scots. From the presence of Scots in congress, to the influence of common sense moral philosophy (Paine’s phrase was not coincidental), to the still-debated influence of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath on the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Scots were, and are, credited with a disproportionate impact on American independence. Some recent commentators have suggested that Arbroath influenced the US Declaration; on the contrary, the article argues that the Declaration influenced Arbroath, at least in its reception and its construction as an alleged charter or ‘declaration’ of Scottish ‘independence’. From the presence of Scots in congress, to the influence of common sense moral philosophy (Paine’s phrase was not coincidental), to the still-debated influence of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath on the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Scots were, and are, credited with a disproportionate impact on American independence. [1] Curiously enough, the evidence for this important influence accumulated gradually without attracting widespread attention until 1978, when Garry Wills published a book on the Declaration of Independence, orienting that The only Scottish-born signers of the Declaration of Independence - a clergyman and a noted legal scholar – came to America in the mid-18th century and played significant roles in shaping two Scottish common sense realism, also known as the Scottish school of common sense, [1] is a realist school of philosophy that originated in the ideas of Scottish philosophers Thomas Reid, Adam Ferguson, James Beattie, and Dugald Stewart during the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment. Reid emphasized man's innate ability to perceive common ideas and that this process is inherent in and 2020 marks the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, this was the letter sent to the pope by the nobles and barons of Scotland following the defeat of the English by the Scots at Bannockburn declaring Scottish Independence and asking the pope to recognise Robert the Bruce as the King of Scotland. In July 1776, Witherspoon voted for the Resolution for Independence; he was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. Interestingly, this historic document has many similarities to the Declaration of Arbroath which proclaimed Scottish freedom for the first time in 1320. In many ways, the key to understanding how the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath came to influence the American Declaration of Independence is to understand the relationship between William Small and Thomas Jefferson. Declaration of Arbroath The Declaration of Arbroath, which was written in Latin and to which the seals of 51 authorities in Scotland were attached, was soon after issued, defending Robert I and arguing that Scotland was a nation independent from England. The use of the term ‘forefault’ to complete the declaration is highly significant. It was a term out of Scottish feudal law and directly connected the attitudes and approach of the nobility to the crisis of 1689 to the approach taken by their ancestors to the crisis of the 1310s that culminated in the Declaration of Arbroath. So the debate between the Scottish and the Hobbesian-Lockean view of the founders is part of a larger controversy over whether the political philosophy expressed in the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution is primarily a ‘liberal’ or a ‘civic republican’ one. Independence can come in many ways, the preferred route is through a second referendum, although it is highly unlikely that Westminster will agree to that. Scotland could make a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, but there are many who see UDI as being undemocratic. The Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence signed in 1320, embodied the Scots’ strong dedication to liberty, and the Scots brought that tradition of freedom with them to the New World . . .
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