Editing Acts of Union 1800 (section)

== Passage ==
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Complementary acts were enacted by the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland.

The Parliament of Ireland had recently gained a large measure of legislative independence under the [[Constitution of 1782]].  Many members of the Irish Parliament jealously guarded that autonomy (notably [[Henry Grattan]]), and a motion for union was legally rejected in 1799. Only [[Church of Ireland|Anglicans]] were permitted to become members of the Parliament of Ireland though the great majority of the Irish population were [[Roman Catholic]], with many [[Presbyterians]] in [[Ulster]]. Under the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1793]], Roman Catholics regained the right to vote if they owned or rented property worth £2 annually. Wealthy Catholics were strongly in favour of union in the hope for rapid [[Catholic emancipation|religious emancipation]] and the right to sit as MPs, which would only come to pass under the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]].

From the perspective of Great Britain's elites, the union was desirable because of the uncertainty that followed the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 and the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]]. If Ireland adopted Catholic emancipation willingly or not, a Roman Catholic Parliament could break away from Britain and ally with the French, but the same measure within the United Kingdom would exclude that possibility. Also, in creating a regency during King [[George III]]'s "madness", the Irish and British Parliaments gave the Prince Regent different powers. These considerations led Great Britain to decide to attempt the merger of both kingdoms and Parliaments.

The final passage of the Act in the [[Irish House of Commons]] turned on an about 16% relative majority, garnering 58% of the votes, and similar in the [[Irish House of Lords]], in part per contemporary accounts through bribery with the awarding of [[peerage]]s and [[honour]]s to critics to get votes.{{sfn|Ward|1994|p=28}} The first attempt had been defeated in the Irish House of Commons by 109 votes to 104, but the second vote in 1800 passed by 158 to 115.{{sfn|Ward|1994|p=28}}