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Royal Proclamation
| Quebec Act |
American Revolution
| Loyalists |
Attack on Quebec
The Royal Proclamation
October 7, 1763
BY THE KING. A PROCLAMATION
GEORGE R.
Whereas We have taken
into Our Royal Consideration the extensive and valuable
Acquisitions in America, secured to our Crown by the
late Definitive Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris. the
10th Day of February last; and being desirous that all
Our loving Subjects, as well of our Kingdom as of our
Colonies in America, may avail themselves with all
convenient Speed, of the great Benefits and Advantages
which must accrue therefrom to their Commerce,
Manufactures, and Navigation, We have thought fit, with
the Advice of our Privy Council. to issue this our Royal
Proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our
loving Subjects, that we have, with the Advice of our
Said Privy Council, granted our Letters Patent, under
our Great Seal of Great Britain, to erect, within the
Countries and Islands ceded and confirmed to Us by the
said Treaty, Four distinct and separate Governments,
styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida,
West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded as
follows, viz.
First--The Government
of Quebec bounded on the Labrador Coast by the River St.
John, and from thence by a Line drawn from the Head of
that River through the Lake St. John, to the South end
of the Lake Nipissim; from whence the said Line,
crossing the River St. Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain,
in 45. Degrees of North Latitude, passes along the High
Lands which divide the Rivers that empty themselves into
the said River St. Lawrence from those which fall into
the Sea; and also along the North Coast of the Baye des
Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph of St. Lawrence to
Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the Mouth of the
River St. Lawrence by the West End of the Island of
Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River of St.
John.
Secondly--The
Government of East Florida. bounded to the Westward by
the Gulph of Mexico and the Apalachicola River; to the
Northward by a Line drawn from that part of the said
River where the Chatahouchee and Flint Rivers meet, to
the source of St. Mary's River. and by the course of the
said River to the Atlantic Ocean; and to the Eastward
and Southward by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulph of
Florida, including all Islands within Six Leagues of the
Sea Coast.
Thirdly--The
Government of West Florida. bounded to the Southward by
the Gulph of Mexico. including all Islands within Six
Leagues of the Coast. from the River Apalachicola to
Lake Pontchartrain; to the Westward by the said Lake,
the Lake Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the
Northward by a Line drawn due East from that part of the
River Mississippi which lies in 31 Degrees North
Latitude. to the River Apalachicola or Chatahouchee; and
to the Eastward by the said River.
Fourthly--The
Government of Grenada, comprehending the Island of that
name, together with the Grenadines, and the Islands of
Dominico, St. Vincent's and Tobago. And to the end that
the open and free Fishery of our Subjects may be
extended to and carried on upon the Coast of Labrador,
and the adjacent Islands. We have thought fit. with the
advice of our said Privy Council to put all that Coast,
from the River St. John's to Hudson's Streights,
together with the Islands of Anticosti and Madelaine,
and all other smaller Islands Iying upon the said Coast,
under the care and Inspection of our Governor of
Newfoundland.
We have also, with the
advice of our Privy Council. thought fit to annex the
Islands of St. John's and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale,
with the lesser Islands adjacent thereto, to our
Government of Nova Scotia.
We have also, with the
advice of our Privy Council aforesaid, annexed to our
Province of Georgia all the Lands Iying between the
Rivers Alatamaha and St. Mary's.
And whereas it will
greatly contribute to the speedy settling of our said
new Governments, that our loving Subjects should be
infomed of our Paternal care, for the security of the
Liberties and Properties of those who are and shall
become Inhabitants thereof, We have thought fit to
publish and declare, by this Our Proclamation, that We
have, in the Letters Patent under our Great Seal of
Great Britain, by which the said Governments are
constituted. given express Power and Direction to our
Governors of our Said Colonies respectively, that so
soon as the state and circumstances of the said Colonies
will admit thereof, they shall, with the Advice and
Consent of the Members of our Council, summon and call
General Assemblies within the said Governments
respectively, in such Manner and Form as is used and
directed in those Colonies and Provinces in America
which are under our immediate Government: And We have
also given Power to the said Governors, with the consent
of our Said Councils, and the Representatives of the
People so to be summoned as aforesaid, to make,
constitute, and ordain Laws. Statutes, and Ordinances
for the Public Peace, Welfare, and good Government of
our said Colonies, and of the People and Inhabitants
thereof, as near as may be agreeable to the Laws of
England, and under such Regulations and Restrictions as
are used in other Colonies; and in the mean Time, and
until such Assemblies can be called as aforesaid, all
Persons Inhabiting in or resorting to our Said Colonies
may confide in our Royal Protection for the Enjoyment of
the Benefit of the Laws of our Realm of England; for
which Purpose We have given Power under our Great Seal
to the Governors of our said Colonies respectively to
erect and constitute, with the Advice of our said
Councils respectively, Courts of Judicature and public
Justice within our Said Colonies for hearing and
determining all Causes, as well Criminal as Civil,
according to Law and Equity, and as near as may be
agreeable to the Laws of England, with Liberty to all
Persons who may think themselves aggrieved by the
Sentences of such Courts, in all Civil Cases. to appeal,
under the usual Limitations and Restrictions, to Us in
our Privy Council.
We have also thought
fit, with the advice of our Privy Council as aforesaid,
to give unto the Governors and Councils of our said
Three new Colonies, upon the Continent full Power and
Authority to settle and agree with the Inhabitants of
our said new Colonies or with any other Persons who
shall resort thereto, for such Lands. Tenements and
Hereditaments, as are now or hereafter shall be in our
Power to dispose of; and them to grant to any such
Person or Persons upon such Terms, and under such
moderate Quit-Rents, Services and Acknowledgments, as
have been appointed and settled in our other Colonies,
and under such other Conditions as shall appear to us to
be necessary and expedient for the Advantage of the
Grantees, and the Improvement and settlement of our said
Colonies.
And Whereas, We are
desirous, upon all occasions, to testify our Royal Sense
and Approbation of the Conduct and bravery of the
Officers and Soldiers of our Armies, and to reward the
same, We do hereby command and impower our Governors of
our said Three new Colonies, and all other our Governors
of our several Provinces on the Continent of North
America, to grant without Fee or Reward, to such reduced
Officers as have served in North America during the late
War, and to such Private Soldiers as have been or shall
be disbanded in America, and are actually residing
there, and shall personally apply for the same, the
following Quantities of Lands, subject, at the
Expiration of Ten Years, to the same Quit-Rents as other
Lands are subject to in the Province within which they
are granted, as also subject to the same Conditions of
Cultivation and Improvement; viz.
To every Person having
the Rank of a Field Officer--5,000 Acres.
To every
Captain--3,000 Acres.
To every Subaltern or
Staff Officer,--2,000 Acres.
To every
Non-Commission Officer,--200 Acres .
To every Private
Man--50 Acres.
We do likewise
authorize and require the Governors and Commanders in
Chief of all our said Colonies upon the Continent of
North America to grant the like Quantities of Land, and
upon the same conditions, to such reduced Officers of
our Navy of like Rank as served on board our Ships of
War in North America at the times of the Reduction of
Louisbourg and Quebec in the late War, and who shall
personally apply to our respective Governors for such
Grants.
And whereas it is just
and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and the
Security of our Colonies, that the several Nations or
Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who
live under our Protection, should not be molested or
disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of Our
Dominions and Territories as, not having been ceded to
or purchased by Us, are reserved to them. or any of
them, as their Hunting Grounds.--We do therefore, with
the Advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our
Royal Will and Pleasure. that no Governor or Commander
in Chief in any of our Colonies of Quebec, East Florida.
or West Florida, do presume, upon any Pretence whatever,
to grant Warrants of Survey, or pass any Patents for
Lands beyond the Bounds of their respective Governments.
as described in their Commissions: as also that no
Governor or Commander in Chief in any of our other
Colonies or Plantations in America do presume for the
present, and until our further Pleasure be known, to
grant Warrants of Survey, or pass Patents for any Lands
beyond the Heads or Sources of any of the Rivers which
fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the West and North
West, or upon any Lands whatever, which, not having been
ceded to or purchased by Us as aforesaid, are reserved
to the said Indians, or any of them.
And We do further
declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the
present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty,
Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said
Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included
within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or
within the Limits of the Territory granted to the
Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the Lands and
Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the
Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North
West as aforesaid.
And We do hereby
strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our
loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements
whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above
reserved. without our especial leave and Licence for
that Purpose first obtained.
And. We do further
strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who
have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves
upon any Lands within the Countries above described. or
upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or
purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians
as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such
Settlements.
And whereas great
Frauds and Abuses have been committed in purchasing
Lands of the Indians, to the great Prejudice of our
Interests. and to the great Dissatisfaction of the said
Indians: In order, therefore, to prevent such
Irregularities for the future, and to the end that the
Indians may be convinced of our Justice and determined
Resolution to remove all reasonable Cause of Discontent,
We do. with the Advice of our Privy Council strictly
enjoin and require. that no private Person do presume to
make any purchase from the said Indians of any Lands
reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our
Colonies where, We have thought proper to allow
Settlement: but that. if at any Time any of the Said
Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said Lands,
the same shall be Purchased only for Us, in our Name, at
some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians, to
be held for that Purpose by the Governor or Commander in
Chief of our Colony respectively within which they shall
lie: and in case they shall lie within the limits of any
Proprietary Government. they shall be purchased only for
the Use and in the name of such Proprietaries,
conformable to such Directions and Instructions as We or
they shall think proper to give for that Purpose: And we
do. by the Advice of our Privy Council, declare and
enjoin, that the Trade with the said Indians shall be
free and open to all our Subjects whatever. provided
that every Person who may incline to Trade with the said
Indians do take out a Licence for carrying on such Trade
from the Governor or Commander in Chief of any of our
Colonies respectively where such Person shall reside.
and also give Security to observe such Regulations as We
shall at any Time think fit. by ourselves or by our
Commissaries to be appointed for this Purpose, to direct
and appoint for the Benefit of the said Trade:
And we do hereby
authorize, enjoin, and require the Governors and
Commanders in Chief of all our Colonies respectively, as
well those under Our immediate Government as those under
the Government and Direction of Proprietaries, to grant
such Licences without Fee or Reward, taking especial
Care to insert therein a Condition, that such Licence
shall be void, and the Security forfeited in case the
Person to whom the same is granted shall refuse or
neglect to observe such Regulations as We shall think
proper to prescribc as aforesaid.
And we do further
expressly conjoin and require all Officers whatever, as
well Military as those Employed in the Management and
Direction of Indian Affairs, within the Territories
reserved as aforesaid for the use of the said Indians,
to seize and apprehend all Persons whatever. who
standing charged with Treason. Misprisions of Treason.
Murders, or other Felonies or Misdemeanors. shall fly
from Justice and take Refuge in the said Territory. and
to send them under a proper guard to the Colony where
the Crime was committed of which they, stand accused. in
order to take their Trial for the same.
Given at our Court at
St. James's the 7th Day of October 1763. in the Third
Year of our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE KING
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