Queen Anne

Queen Anne is presented as a historical advocate of the union between England and Scotland, whose 1706 appeal gives the Federalist Papers a concise example of political unity framed as a means of securing peace and resisting external threats. She does not participate in the contemporary argument as a character in its events; her words are recalled as evidence for the value of union.

The 1706 Appeal

In a letter dated 1 July 1706 to the Scottish Parliament, Queen Anne urged calm and unanimity in the negotiations then bringing England and Scotland together. The passage cited from her letter describes union as a foundation for lasting peace: it would protect religion, liberty, and property, ease mutual jealousies, and strengthen the kingdoms’ wealth and trade. Joined in affection and freed from suspicions of conflicting interests, the island, she argued, would be better able to resist its enemies.

Her appeal also presents union as the practical route to present and future happiness. She warns that opponents of the measure would make their utmost efforts to prevent or delay it, making the call for agreement not merely celebratory but urgent: a political settlement had to be brought to completion against resistance.

Historical Precedent in the Federalist Argument

The Federalist Papers use Queen Anne’s letter to support a broader claim that domestic division exposes a country to dangers from abroad. The argument turns from her recommendation to the history of Britain: although the peoples of the island shared interests in relation to continental powers, they had long been divided and repeatedly embroiled in conflict. Their jealousies could be inflamed by the policies of other nations, leaving them less helpful to one another than their shared interests warranted.

In this comparison, Queen Anne’s appeal functions as evidence that political union may answer both internal discord and external danger. The authors do not treat the letter as proof that union automatically removes every difference; rather, its language supplies a pointed contrast between mutual suspicion and concerted strength. Its emphasis on common interests, shared security, and the need to resist efforts to obstruct union reinforces the warning that divided communities can be manipulated and weakened.

Significance and Limits of the Portrait

Queen Anne’s role in the text is brief but specific: she is remembered through a public letter, quoted for its argument about the benefits of union. The passage gives her appeal a double significance. It records a historical recommendation for the union of England and Scotland, and it provides the American political argument with a precedent for considering union as a safeguard for peace, liberty, property, and collective security.

The portrait remains confined to that rhetorical function. The text supplies no account of Queen Anne’s private life, personal relationships, or later actions in the union’s history. What it preserves is the force of her stated case: agreement among political communities can turn shared interests into common strength, while delay and division leave them vulnerable to both internal hostility and external designs.