Editing Hebrides (section)

===Early British era===
[[File:Clachan Bridge.jpg|thumb|[[Clachan Bridge]] between the mainland of [[Great Britain]] and [[Seil]], also known as the "Bridge across the Atlantic", was built in 1792.<ref>Murray (1977) p. 121.</ref>]]
With the implementation of the [[Treaty of Union]] in 1707, the Hebrides became part of the new [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], but the clans' loyalties to a distant monarch were not strong. A considerable number of islesmen "came out" in support of the Jacobite [[Earl of Mar]] in the [[Jacobite rising of 1715|1715]] and again in the [[Jacobite Rising of 1745|1745]] rising including Macleod of [[Dunvegan]] and [[Clan MacLea|MacLea]] of Lismore.<ref>[http://www.castlescotland.net/the-castles/d/dunvegan.html "Dunvegan"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604044350/http://www.castlescotland.net/the-castles/d/dunvegan.html |date=4 June 2013 }} castlescotland.net Retrieved 17 January 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.clanmclea.co.uk/Donald_Livingstone.htm "Incidents of the Jacobite Risings – Donald Livingstone"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716140636/http://www.clanmclea.co.uk/Donald_Livingstone.htm |date=16 July 2011 }} clanmclea.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2011.</ref> The aftermath of the decisive [[Battle of Culloden]], which effectively ended Jacobite hopes of a Stuart restoration, was widely felt.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/trails_union_culloden.shtml "The Battle of Culloden"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208150310/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/trails_union_culloden.shtml |date=8 December 2019 }} BBC. Retrieved 16 January 2011.</ref> The British government's strategy was to estrange the clan chiefs from their kinsmen and turn their descendants into English-speaking landlords whose main concern was the revenues their estates brought rather than the welfare of those who lived on them.<ref name=H195>Hunter (2000) pp. 195–96, 204–06.</ref> This may have brought peace to the islands, but in the following century it came at a terrible price. In the wake of the rebellion, the clan system was broken up and islands of the Hebrides became a series of landed estates.<ref name=H195/><ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 207–08.</ref>

The early 19th century was a time of improvement and population growth. Roads and quays were built; the [[slate]] industry became a significant employer on [[Easdale]] and surrounding islands; and the construction of the [[Crinan Canal|Crinan]] and [[Caledonian Canal|Caledonian]] canals and other engineering works such as [[Clachan Bridge]] improved transport and access.<ref>Duncan, P. J. "The Industries of Argyll: Tradition and Improvement" in Omand (2006) pp. 152–53.</ref> However, in the mid-19th century, the inhabitants of many parts of the Hebrides were devastated by the [[Highland Clearances|Clearances]], which destroyed communities throughout the [[Highlands and Islands]] as the human populations were evicted and replaced with sheep farms.<ref>Hunter (2000) p. 212.</ref> The position was exacerbated by the failure of the islands' [[kelp]] industry that thrived from the 18th century until the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815<ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 247, 262.</ref><ref>Duncan, P. J. "The Industries of Argyll: Tradition and Improvement" in Omand (2006) pp. 157–58.</ref> and large scale emigration became endemic.<ref>Hunter (2000) p. 280.</ref>

As {{lang|gd|[[Iain Mac Fhearchair]]}}, a Gaelic poet from [[South Uist]], wrote for his countrymen who were obliged to leave the Hebrides in the late 18th century, emigration was the only alternative to "sinking into slavery" as the Gaels had been unfairly dispossessed by rapacious landlords.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newton |first1=Michael |title=Highland Clearances Part 3 |url=https://virtualgael.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/highland-clearances-3/ |website=The Virtual Gael |access-date=7 January 2017 |archive-date=29 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229101022/https://virtualgael.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/highland-clearances-3/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1880s, the "[[Camastianavaig|Battle of the Braes]]" involved a demonstration against unfair land regulation and eviction, stimulating the calling of the [[Napier Commission]]. Disturbances continued until the passing of the 1886 [[Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886|Crofters' Act]].<ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 308–23.</ref>