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Royal Proclamation
| Quebec Act |
American Revolution
| Loyalists |
Attack on Quebec
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At the
conclusion of the Seven Years War, the British
authorities indented to help stabilize the
frontier with the native peoples by providing
them with certain guarantees that their lands
would remain native lands. England was also
interested in using these native lands to settle
British soldiers who had fought against the
French during the Seven Years War. |
 |
The result of these
considerations was the Proclamation Act of 1763 which
organized and regulate the vast lands of the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys. According to the act the lands to
the west of the 13 colonies were reserved for the use of
the British Crown at the discretion of the British
Crown. The citizens living in the 13 colonies believed
that one of the main reasons they had fought the Seven
Years War for as to open up the frontier lands t the
west for British American colonization.
The reasoning by the British was that the
native people needed to be consulted on the future of
their lands in order to avoid a hostile confrontation
over the issue. The rising by the native chief Pontiac
from 1763 - 66 confirmed their suspensions that unrest
festered just below the surface. The Proclamation Act
invested the British authorities to slowly move the
natives west while granting lands to those they wished
to. This line between the native lands and the colonies
was known as the Proclamation line. It was hoped that
over the years this movement of the line could be
effected without to much conflict between settlers and
natives but the pressures in the colonies were building
and the new frontier was needed immediately. This put
the colonists and the British Crown on a collision
course and was one of the cause of the American
Revolution. |
