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Proclamation of 1763 Facts

Proclamation of 1763 Facts
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was a law issued by King George III of the United Kingdom on October 7, 1763. It dealt with several formalities after the British Defeated the French in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), which was essentially the North American theater of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). Britain's victory in that war left her with most a large share of the North American landmass, a large population of French speaking colonists, and an equally large population of indigenous people spread out across the continent. The Proclamation ordered that anyone who fought for the French could have his land taken, but most importantly it forbade settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. This restriction angered many colonists and would later be one of the many factors that led to the American Revolution.
Interesting Proclamation of 1763 Facts:
George III was quite an educated monarch, knowing German, English, French, and Latin. He was also well-versed in science, literature, and philosophy and considered himself a product of the Enlightenment. He believed that the Proclamation line would mitigate racial tensions between the Indian tribes and European colonists.
The land west of the Appalachians became known as the "Indian Reserve" and was essentially the first Indian reservation in America, although it had very little oversight from the government.
Although the British claimed that the Proclamation was at least in part intended to ensure that the Indian tribes could keep their lands, it was also to suffer as a sort of buffer state between the British and Spanish possessions west of the Mississippi.
The British also did not rule out purchasing land from the Indian tribes west of the Appalachians in the future.
There was no true border between the Indian Reserve and British colonies east of the Appalachians.
Most of the opposition to the Proclamation came from plantation owners and farmers who wanted to expand their operations east as well as new immigrants who were looking to get started in British America with cheaper land.
The Proclamation did not forbid colonists or Europeans in general from traveling or even living in the Indian Reserve. Many Europeans made a living in the Indian Reserve by trapping animals and selling the furs east of the Appalachians. Many of these trappers also traded with the Indians.
Most of the American Indian tribes supported the French in the French and Indian War, so their support for the Proclamation was lukewarm at best.
The Indian Reserve was moved west and the Proclamation somewhat nullified by later treaties in 1768 and 1770.
George Washington and some other notable Patriot military leaders in the American Revolution were also veteran of the French and Indian War. For their service to the British crown, these American officers were granted vast tracts of land west of the Appalachians. These officers were instrumental in enacting the new treaties of 1768 and 1770, allowing them to claim land in what is now western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
The Proclamation has been forgotten for the most part by the majority of Americans, but for indigenous Canadians it is viewed as a legal document that is still binding since Canada never broke from the Crown.


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