The Equivalent was a sum negotiated at £398,000 paid to Scotland by the English Government under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

. Proposals for it first emerged in the course of abortive Union negotiations in 1702/03.

Purpose of The Equivalent

The purpose of The Equivalent was ostensibly to take account of the contribution which Scots taxpayers would thereafter make towards servicing the English national debt, and as transitional mitigation of the effects of higher taxes on the Scottish economy. Though attempts have been made to see it as a precise calculation, it is now generally regarded as part of a political bargain designed for other purposes as well, such as the costs of winding up the Company of Scotland

Company of Scotland

The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, also called the Scottish Darien Company, was an overseas trading company created by an act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1695...

 which had undertaken the Darien scheme

Darién scheme

The Darién scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "New Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s...

; shareholders in and creditors of the Company were to receive 58.6% of The Equivalent.

Further information

For further information on the context and background see Acts of Union 1707

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

.