TheRoyal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by KingGeorge III ofGreat Britain on 7 October 1763. It followed theTreaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended theSeven Years' War and transferredFrench territory in North America to Great Britain.[1] The proclamation at least temporarily forbade all new settlements west of a line drawn along theAppalachian Mountains, which was delineated as anIndian Reserve.[2] Exclusion from the vast region ofTrans-Appalachia created discontent between Britain and colonial land speculators and potential settlers. The proclamation and access to western lands was one of the first significant areas of dispute between Britain and theThirteen Colonies and became a contributing factor leading to theAmerican Revolution.[3] The 1763 proclamation line is more or less similar to theEastern Continental Divide, extending fromGeorgia in the south to the divide's northern terminus near the middle of the north border of Pennsylvania, where it intersects the northeasterlySt. Lawrence Divide, and extends further throughNew England.
The Royal Proclamation continues to be of legal importance toFirst Nations in Canada, being the first legal recognition ofaboriginal title, rights and freedoms. It is recognized in theConstitution Act, 1982, partly due to direct action by Indigenous peoples of Canada, known as the Constitution Express movement of 1980–1982.[4][5]
TheSeven Years' War and its North Americantheater, theFrench and Indian War, ended with the 1763Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, all French colonial territory west of theMississippi River was ceded toSpain. In contrast, all French colonial territory east of the Mississippi River and south of Rupert's Land (saveSaint Pierre and Miquelon, which France kept) was ceded toGreat Britain. Both Spain and Britain received some French islands in the Caribbean, while France keptHaiti andGuadeloupe.[6][7]
The Proclamation of 1763 dealt with managing former French territories in North America that Britain acquired following its victory over France in the French and Indian War and regulating colonial settlers' expansion. It established new governments for several areas: theprovince of Quebec, the new colonies ofWest Florida andEast Florida,[8] and a group of Caribbean islands,Grenada,Tobago,Saint Vincent, andDominica, collectively referred to as the British Ceded Islands.[9]
At the outset, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 defined the jurisdictional limits of the British territories of North America, limiting British colonial expansion on the continent. What remained of the Royal Province of New France east of theGreat Lakes and theOttawa River, and south ofRupert's Land, was reorganised under the name "Quebec." The territory northeast of theSt. John River on theLabrador coast was reassigned to theNewfoundland Colony.[10] The lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of theAllegheny Mountains became(British) Indian Territory, barred to settlement from colonies east of the line.[11]
The proclamation line was not intended to be a permanent boundary between the colonists and Native American lands but rather a temporary boundary that could be extended further west in an orderly, lawful manner.[12][13] It was also not designed as an uncrossable boundary; people could cross the line, but not settle past it.[14] Its contour was defined by theheadwaters that formed thewatershed along the Appalachians. All land with rivers that flowed into the Atlantic was designated for the colonial entities. In contrast, all the land with rivers that flowed into the Mississippi was reserved for the Native American populations. The proclamation outlawed the private purchase of Native American land, which had often created problems. Instead, all future land purchases were to be made by Crown officials "at some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians". British colonials were forbidden to settle on native lands, and colonial officials were forbidden to grant ground or lands without royal approval. Organized land companies asked for land grants, but were denied by King George III.[15]
British colonists and land speculators objected to the proclamation boundary since the British government had already assigned land grants to them. Including the wealthy owners of the Ohio company, who protested the line to the governor of Virginia, as they had plans to settle the land to grow the business.[16] Many settlements already existed beyond the proclamation line,[17] some of which had been temporarily evacuated duringPontiac's War, and there were many already granted land claims yet to be settled. For example, George Washington and his Virginia soldiers had been granted lands past the boundary. Prominent American colonials joined with the land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west.[3][18]
The colonists' demands were met and the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties with the Native Americans.[19] The first two of these treaties were completed in 1768; theTreaty of Fort Stanwix adjusted the border with theIroquois Confederacy in theOhio Country and theTreaty of Hard Labour adjusted the border with theCherokee in the Carolinas.[20][21] The Treaty of Hard Labour was followed by theTreaty of Lochaber in 1770, adjusting the border between Virginia and the Cherokee.[22] These agreements opened much of what is nowKentucky andWest Virginia to British settlement.[23] The land granted by the Virginian and North Carolinian government heavily favored the land companies, seeing as they had more wealthy backers than the poorer settlers who wanted to settle west in hopes of gaining a fortune.[24]
Many colonists disregarded the proclamation line and settled west, which created tension between them and the Native Americans.[25]Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766) was a war involving Native American tribes, primarily from theGreat Lakes region, theIllinois Country and the Ohio Country, who were dissatisfied withBritish postwar policies in the Great Lakes region after the end of the Seven Years' War. They were able to take over a large number of the forts which commanded the waterways involved in trade within the region and export to Great Britain.[26] The proclamation line had been conceived before the onset of Pontiac's Rebellion, but the outbreak of this conflict hastened the process of making it law.[17]
The Royal Proclamation continued to govern the cession of Indigenous land inBritish North America, especiallyUpper Canada andRupert's Land. Upper Canada created a platform for treaty-making based on the Royal Proclamation. After loyalists moved into land after Britain's defeat in the American Revolution, the first impetus was created out of necessity.[27]
According to historian Colin Calloway, "scholars disagree on whether the proclamation recognized or undermined tribal sovereignty".[28]
Some see the Royal Proclamation of 1763 as a "fundamental document" for First Nations land claims andself-government.[29] It is "the first legal recognition by theBritish Crown ofAboriginal rights"[30] and imposes afiduciary duty of care on the Crown. The intent and promises made to the natives in the proclamation have been argued to be temporary, only meant to appease the Native peoples who were becoming increasingly resentful of "settler encroachments on their lands"[31] and were capable of becoming a serious threat to British colonial settlement.[32][33] Advice given by aSir William Johnson, superintendent of Indian Affairs in North America, to the Board of Trade on 30 August 1764, expressed that:
The Indians all know we cannot be a Match for them in the midst of an extensive woody Country ... from whence I infer that if we are determined to possess Our Posts, Trade & ca securely, it cannot be done for a Century by any other means than that of purchasing the favour of the numerous Indian inhabitants.[34]
Anishinaabe juristJohn Borrows has written that "the Proclamation illustrates the British government's attempt to exercise sovereignty over First Nations while simultaneously trying to convince First Nations that they would remain separate from European settlers and have their jurisdiction preserved."[35] Borrows further writes that the Royal Proclamation along with the subsequentTreaty of Niagara, provide for an argument that "discredits the claims of the Crown to exercisesovereignty over First Nations"[36] and affirms Aboriginal "powers ofself-determination in, among other things, allocating lands".[37]
Australian jurisprudence onindigenous land tenure has been influenced by the proclamation. The landmarkMabo v Queensland (No 2) decision noted the proclamation as an early precedent acknowledging the sanctity of treaties with indigenous peoples.[38]
The functional content of the proclamation was reintroduced into American law by the decision of theU.S. Supreme Court inJohnson v. McIntosh (1823).[citation needed]
In October 2013, the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation was celebrated inOttawa with a meeting of Indigenous leaders and Governor-General David Johnston.[39] The Aboriginal movementIdle No More held birthday parties for the document at various locations across Canada.[40]
The influence of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 on the coming of theAmerican Revolution has been variously interpreted. Many historians argue that the proclamation ceased to be a significant source of tension after 1768 since the aforementioned later treaties opened up extensive lands for settlement. Others have argued that colonial resentment of the proclamation contributed to the growing divide between the colonies and the mother country. Some historians say that even though the boundary was pushed west in subsequent treaties, the British government refused to permit new colonial settlements for fear of instigating a war with Native Americans, which angered colonial land speculators.[41] Others argue that the Royal Proclamation imposed a fiduciary duty of care on the Crown.[42]
George Washington was given 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land in the Ohio region for his services in the French and Indian War. In 1770, Washington took the lead in securing the rights of himself and his old soldiers in the French War, advancing money to pay expenses for the common cause and using his influence in the proper quarters. In August 1770, it was decided that Washington should personally make a trip to the western region, where he located and surveyed tracts for himself and military comrades. After some dispute, he was eventually granted a patent letter for tracts of land there. The lands involved were open to Virginians under terms of the Treaty of Lochaber of 1770, except for the lands located two miles (3.2 km) south of Fort Pitt, now known as Pittsburgh.[43]
In the United States, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 ended with the American Revolutionary War because Great Britain ceded the land in question to the United States in theTreaty of Paris (1783). Afterward, the U.S. government faced difficulties preventing frontier violence and eventually adopted policies similar to the Royal Proclamation. The first in a series ofIndian Intercourse Acts was passed in 1790, prohibiting unregulated trade and travel in Native American lands. In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court caseJohnson v. McIntosh established that only the U.S. government, and not private individuals, could purchase land from Native Americans.[44]
A group of activists led by George Manuel, then president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs chartered two trains from Vancouver that eventually carried approximately one thousand people to Ottawa to publicize concerns that Aboriginal rights would be abolished in the proposed Canadian Constitution. When this large-scale peaceful demonstration did not initially alter the Trudeau government's position, delegations continued on to the United Nations in New York, and then to Europe to spread their message to an international audience. Eventually, the Trudeau government agreed to recognize Aboriginal rights within the Constitution. Contemporary activist Arthur Manuel calls the Constitution Express the most effective direct action in Canadian history, as it ultimately changed the Constitution.
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