On October 7, 1763, Britain won the Seven Year War in North America, and King George III issued a document called The Royal Proclamation on October 7, 1763.
In 1754, Britain attacked disputed French positions in North America and seized French merchant ships. Meanwhile, in Europe, Prussia and Austria were struggling for dominance. Realising that war was imminent, Prussia struck Saxony and overran it. Europe was up in arms, with countries forging alliances with either France or Britain.
It was a war between the colonies of British America and those of New France. Both sides were supported by military units of their parent country and Native American allies.
In 1754, French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers while the British North American colonies had two million. So, the French depended heavily on Native Americans.
Along the frontiers
The fighting was primarily along the frontiers between New France and British colonies, from Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny and Monogahela rivers and the site of the French Fort Duquesne.Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.
For two years from 1755, the British military campaigns were disastrous. The British government fell, and William Pitt came to power. He increased military resources in the colonies. France instead concentrated against Prussia and its allies in Europe. British tactics paid off.
Between 1758 and 1760, the British military captured the Colony of Canada. They captured territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately Quebec. France’s colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Great Britain was now a dominant colonial power in eastern North America.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.
Besides regulating colonial expansion, the treaty also dealt with the management of inherited French colonies. In Canada, a new colony, the Province of Quebec was formed.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 has also been seen as a fundamental document for First Nations land claims and self-government and their acceptance of Aboriginal rights. It continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada and is significant for the variation of indigenous status in the United States.
