The recent Scottish referendum to separate Scotland from the United Kingdom was voted down by a 55 percent majority.  This is a rare sight for the modern population; in school the only secessions we are taught about are either violent, like the Confederate secession from the United States, or caused by a government collapse like the six states created by the collapse of the Soviet Union. In other democratic secession attempts the territories affected were far apart, primarily countries seceding from the British Empire, whereas the territories affected by this referendum were all within the British Isles. The intentions of the Scottish Separatists were admirable and rather similar to those of the American revolutionaries; however, their methodology was flawed. One of the Scots’ primary complaints was they felt they were not adequately represented by the England-centered government. If the people of Scotland truly wanted to separate from the UK government, they should also have planned to abandon the pound and cut ties with the UK treasury. Joining the European Union and adopting the Euro would have better established Scotland as an independent nation instead of a British territory. The population of Scotland wanted independence, and they treated it as a want, not a need, freedom is not something the Scottish can obtain by just wanting it, they must need it, it has to be a necessity, something that they will kill for and die without. The American Revolutionaries saw freedom from the British as a necessity, the Revolutionaries said “liberty or death”, but the Scots’ saw freedom as a commodity and that is why they are still part of the UK. Scotland wanted independence but was unwilling to change its way of life. The UK has many public assistance programs that Scotland would not be able to provide as an independent nation. The decision to stay in the UK was about not about loyalty to the Crown but loyalty to the coin.