Royal Proclamation of 1763

The royal proclamation of 1763 was delivered the October 7th 1763 by George III following acquisition by the United Kingdom of French territory and after the end of the Guerre Seven Year old. The purpose of the proclamation was to organize the vast ones and new British grounds of North America, and to stabilize the relations with the Amerindian by regulating the Traite furs, the colonization and the purchase of the grounds at the Western border.

Consequences in Canada

By the royal proclamation , the Great Britain gives a first constitution to the recently conquered territory (News-France). The goal is as soon as possible to give a British face to this new primarily populated colony of Canadian S Francophone S. One starts initially by precisely delimiting the territory which corresponds about to the valley of the Fleuve the St. Lawrence and one gives him a name: “Province off Quebec”. One should not be made illusions on this word of province. It is drawn from Latin “pro victis” who is translated “for overcome”.

One will want to thus introduce the English laws as well civil as criminal. The English civil laws, in particular, put in danger the Régime seigneurial since one makes mention in this code at all of it. That creates much concern at the Seigneur S which must stop perceiving the royalties near their Censitaire S. One tolerates the practice of the Catholic religion but it does not have a legal existence what wants to say that the priests are not authorized to perceive the dîme near their parishioners

Moreover, the new governor Murray receives the instruction not to admit any interference of the Church of Rome in the province. The reason is quite simple. Since the catholics from here do not have any more a bishop (he died in 1760), one cannot thus carry out the ordination of new priests any more. That means that with time, the catholic clergy will die out itself. Always on the religious level, one warns the governor whom it will have to require the Serment of the test to all those which would like to obtain a civil load. That aimed at excluding the Canadians as a practitioner, at their place, a discriminatory policy.

Lastly, to attract as quickly as possible and in great number a British immigration in the province, one encourages the governor to found schools Anglicans and to create cantons which are the English manner to cut out the grounds.

The dissatisfaction with the American colonists

The declaration of George III and her council prohibited to the American colonists to be installed on the grounds located at the west of the mountains the Appalachian Mountains, considered as property of the Amerindians (“Indian territory”). The king thus took the Amerindians under his protection and London thus hoped to develop the trade of the furs with the tribes. However, several colonists had been already established in these areas and refused the royal monopoly in the acquisition of the grounds. By closing the American colonization towards the west, Great Britain raises the dissatisfaction with the farmers and the landowners, in a context of population growth of the 13 colonies.

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