Question a:
After the end of the Seven Years’ War and with the Treaty of Paris, France ceded ownership of all continental North America east of the Mississippi River, including Quebec, and the rest of Canada to Britain. Britain also received some islands in the Caribbean. Some Native American people, however, had a close relationship with France and were not happy about the change, and several conflicts between the Native people and the British followed. Britain then issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which forbade all settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, and established the area as an Indian Reserve. British officials hoped that this arrangement would put an end to hostilities.
Question b:
The proclamation meant that land grants given by the government to British subjects that fought in the war against France were now worthless. People were furious to have been pushed away of that territory, and its resources.
Question c:
The implementation of the proclamation was met with resistance, and many American colonials joined land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the land further west. Their demands were met, and the line was modified with the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the Treaty of Hard Labour, and the Treaty of Lochaber. It, therefore, only proved to be a temporary solution.
However, the legacy of the proclamation is significant. The proclamation is still of legal importance to indigenous people in Canada, and it forms the basis of land claims of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people. The Proclamation is therefore still mentioned in Section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
