The Act of Union of 1801

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Introduction:
Immediately following the merging of Ireland and Great Britain as the United Kingdom as a result of the Act of Union of 1801 there were Irish nationalists who despised the idea of Ireland not being able to rule itself politically. In order to demonstrate their desire to be a separate, free nation, violent ambushes and rallies took place, the more significant ones led by Daniel O’Connell who was a leader of a group called the Repeal Association who showed their objection to the Union. This is significant because it shows that England was very fearful of not being as strong of a nation as it was so the House of Lords rejected the Home Rule Bill starting back in 1886 and continued denying it until 1914 when it was finally enforced. One could assume that the reason that it was enforced during this time period was because it was around the time in which World War I took place so England did not need more nations on its hands to worry about. However, this was not the only reason that the Bill was accepted.
The Parliament Act of 1911 took away the power of veto on legislation of the House of Lords which was something that Parliament had feared. The Unionists were counting on the lords to veto any form of the Home Rule Bill but they did not have this guarantee after the Parliament Act of 1911 so the Irish were able to perfect their bill and propose it again and it was finally enforced in 1912. It is important to pay a great deal of attention to the Irish Home Rule Movement because that is when Ulster basically made an official decision that they would prefer to stay under the power of England in the case of Home Rule. Although it was determined that Ulster would stay with England it was not actually official until Ireland b...

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...Free State and the other 6 of them stayed under the rule of the British in what was called the Ulster Province.
Conclusion:
The Act of Union had many consequences that came in the form as riots and rebellions by several volunteer organizations and groups in Ireland. These consequences stemmed from Ireland’s desire to be an independent political power and therefore often expressed Ireland’s objection to the Union. However, England refused to pass the Home Rule Bill in 1866 until several decades later in 1914 with the assumption that England could not handle all of the different nations in its empire during the time of World War I. More importantly, the power of veto on legislation of the House of Lords became void after the Parliament Act of 1911, allowing the Irish to perfect their bill and propose it again until it was finally enforced in 1912.

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