A: The Proclamation of 1763

Proclamation of 1763 Summary and Definition (A BRITISH Action)

A proclamation is a formal announcement. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the French Indian War. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was designed to calm the fears of Native Indians by halting the westward expansion by colonists whilst expanding the lucrative fur trade.

Reasons for the Royal Proclamation of 1763

There were several reasons for creating the Proclamation of 1763. First, the British had a financial reason for the Royal Proclamation of 1763. They wanted to trade with the Indians to make money in the fur trade, and they needed peace to do that. Indians had been attacking colonists who had moved west at the end of the French and Indian War (Pontiac’s Rebellion). The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was an attempt by the British crown to separate white settlements from Indian country. This prevented colonist from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists perceived that the Royal Proclamation of 1763 clearly demonstrated that the British King was on the side of the Indians to the detriment of the colonists. This new boundary (the Proclamation Line) would need military posts/forts to protect it and enforce the law—which the government argued was to protect the colonists, so the government expected the colonists to pay for these troops (through taxes and laws like the Quartering Act).

COLONIAL RESPONSE to the Proclamation of 1763

The British colonists vehemently resented the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the introduction of the concept of the Proclamation Line. Prominent American colonists joined with land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west. Eventually, the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties with Native American Indians.