In OTL, one of the biggest reasons for the disintigraton of Highland traditions like the Clan system was the government backlash against the Highlanders after the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745. But assuming, for some reason (Bonnie Prince Charlie's ship is sunk, Prince James gives birth to a daughter, etc) the Jacobites never rebel, what would be the fate of the Highlands? How long would the clan system last?
No "Forty-Five". What Happens to the Highlands?
- Thread starter Midnight-Blue766
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Not long, it was already dying by '45 so apart from the most remote bits of Sutherland and the Western Isles the Clan system as a living social structure rather than an archaic remnant or romantic pastiche will be gone within 25-50 years at the maximum. It didn't just die because of the reaction to the '45 it was also modern economic reality and the growing competence and power of the British state made that a tribal structure obsolete. Sooner or later you are going to have lowland Scottish law complete with magistrates and lawyers replace clan law and at some point Clan Chiefs are going to join their lowland equivalents in placing more emphasis on the profitability of the land they own than the number of swords they can call upon and then you're going to get the Highland Clearances. Remember prior to the Clearances the Highlands were pretty much at their carrying capacity (as shown by the frequency of famines) but Clan Chiefs forcibly kept their Clansman there as political power and survival were dependent on the number of swords you could command. The moment that factor no longer applies and Culloden demonstrated the military obsolescence of the Clans very well you're going to see changes. Now without the '45 it will probably be a much slower and more gradual process but it might be more thorough. There is nothing like the government banning something to make people preserve it. Look at Christianity in the Roman Empire.
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The economic and social realities of the 18th and 19th centuries already came to me, but the "power through force" thing never occured to me. The idea of an anti-clan rebellion inspired by the AWI's success seems like a pretty cool idea for a TL... 