Both pro-unionists (including Daniel Defoe, the Earl of Cromartie and others) and the anti-unionists (John Spreul, David Black and Fletcher of Saltoun among them) all agreed that Scotland was in dire straits economically and one of the only ways to improve the nation’s fortunes was to increase exports and decrease imports to Scotland. Many involved in the economic debate saw that there had been an economic imbalance for many years and that this needed to addressed first and foremost in order to alleviate the crisis that was ensuing in Scotland. In contrast to the pro-unionists stance that Scotland’s primary outlet for trade was now England consisting of trade in cattle and linen – which if cut off by the enforcement of the Alien Act Scotland