Episode 2 Transcript Map of the Proclamation Line of 1763. The land to the east of the line was open to colonization by the British. The area west of the line was closed to colonization and set aside for the Native Americans after the French and Indian War. Show << Back to Overmountain Men Home In September, 1780, a ragtag group of backwoodsmen from what is today North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia assembled to begin a journey to defend their homes and belief in liberty. They met their destiny at Kings Mountain and this is their story. The Mitchell County Historical Society presents Footsteps for Freedom: The Road to Kings Mountain. Episode Two: The Royal Proclamation of 1763. The roots of what would become the American Revolution are varied, but an oft-overlooked trigger was one of the first political acts that affected settlers in the western parts of the colonies: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George the Third. The British had just won its world spanning war with France known in America as the French and Indian War. Unfortunately, while the war gained Great Britain a tremendous empire including virtually undisputed control of all of North America north of Mexico it also plunged the country deeply into debt. The British Parliament needed to raise money to pay off its tremendous war debt and hit on a novel solution: since the American colonies benefitted from British protection from the French and the Native Americans, they would be taxed to help pay for it. This was the beginning of Parliament passing laws without the American colonies having any formal representation or say in the matter, giving rise to the cry of no taxation without representation. The colonists increasingly protested against Parliament as they put taxes on stamps, tea and various other things in the coming years. In an effort to gain the support of Native Americans and more importantly prevent the expense of endless future wars with the tribes triggered by the land hungry colonists, King George issued his Proclamation of 1763. It invalidated land grants and prohibited English subjects from settling west of the Eastern Continental Divide, a portion of which runs along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains on Mitchell County’s southern border with McDowell County. This Proclamation intended to stop land speculators and colonists from seeking tracts in the Appalachian Mountains and further west, giving the Crown a monopoly on land purchases from Native Americans in the region. This directly affected the future Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey Counties as virtually all of their territory lies on the Native American side of the Proclamation line and likely delayed their settlement by the colonists. Early settler Samuel Bright who had a tract near present-day Mayland Community College was an exception. Bright established a route across the mountains into what would be Tennessee using an old Native American trail. It was named Bright’s Trace. There were also others who had settled in the Toe River Valley and westward into present-day Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Pioneering scouts such as Daniel Boone visited the area and explored lands in Tennessee and Kentucky. There were also three settlements made in what is today East Tennessee. The first, the Watauga settlement, was most likely the first American settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains and was located near Johnson City, Tennessee. The second, Carter’s Valley, was established near Elizabethton, Tennessee and the third, the Nolichucky settlement was founded near Greeneville, Tennessee. These settlements were established with the purchase or lease of land from the Cherokee Indians, a direct violation of the Proclamation. All three of them would play vital roles in the Battle of Kings Mountain 17 years later. In 1778, a wagon road was constructed to the Watauga settlement from the piedmont of North Carolina through our area. It became Washington County, North Carolina in 1778 and still carries that name in Tennessee today. The Proclamation also heightened tensions between the British and the colonists as they sparred over prime real estate in the region France ceded to England following the war. The colonists made treaties with the Native Americans, which the Proclamation declared null and void, even if both sides were in agreement on the transaction. King George’s edict further inflamed the colonists and, while it brought relative peace with the Native Americans, it created further discontent that, combined with other factors, would flare in the coming years into all-out revolution. Footsteps for Freedom: The Road to Kings Mountain is a production of the Mitchell County Historical Society, a non-profit organization committed to the preservation of the history, heritage, and culture of Mitchell County, North Carolina. Today’s program was written, narrated, and produced by David Biddix. Special thanks to WTOE radio in Spruce Pine, North Carolina (1470 on the AM dial) and WKYK Radio in Burnsville, North Carolina (940 on the AM dial) for airing our program. You can also download episodes through Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Learn more at mitchellnchistory.org/ovm. The Mitchell County Historical Society offices are located in the Historic Mitchell County Courthouse in Bakersville. We’d love for you to become a member of our Society! You can learn more about us on the web at mitchellnchistory.org. There, you can also see show notes about today’s episode, links to online resources about the Battle of Kings Mountain and those involved in it, and much more about Mitchell County’s history and heritage. You can also visit us on Facebook. Join us next time as we continue the journey to Patrick Ferguson and the famous battle atop Kings Mountain.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain.[1] The Proclamation forbade all settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, which was delineated as an Indian Reserve.[2] Exclusion from the vast region of Trans-Appalachia created discontent between Britain and colonial land speculators and potential settlers. The proclamation and access to western lands was one of the first significant areas of dispute between Britain and the colonies and would become a contributing factor leading to the American Revolution.[3] The 1763 proclamation line is situated similar to the Eastern Continental Divide, extending from Georgia to the divide's northern terminus near the middle of the northern border of Pennsylvania, where it intersects the northeasterly St. Lawrence Divide, and extends further through New England. The Royal Proclamation continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada, being the first legal recognition of aboriginal title, rights and freedoms, and is recognized in the Canadian Constitution of 1982, in part as a result of direct action by indigenous peoples of Canada, known as the Constitution Express movement of 1981–1982.[4] Background: Treaty of ParisThe Seven Years' War and its North American theater, the French and Indian War, ended with the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, all French colonial territory west of the Mississippi River was ceded to Spain, while all French colonial territory east of the Mississippi River and south of Rupert's Land (save Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which France kept) was ceded to Great Britain. Both Spain and Britain received some French islands in the Caribbean, while France kept Haiti and Guadeloupe.[5][6] ProvisionsNew coloniesThe Proclamation of 1763 dealt with the management of former French territories in North America that Britain acquired following its victory over France in the French and Indian War, as well as regulating colonial settlers' expansion. It established new governments for several areas: the province of Quebec, the new colonies of West Florida and East Florida,[7] and a group of Caribbean islands, Grenada, Tobago, Saint Vincent, and Dominica, collectively referred to as the British Ceded Islands.[8] Proclamation lineAt the outset, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 defined the jurisdictional limits of the British territories of North America, limiting British colonial expansion on the continent. What remained of the Royal Province of New France east of the Great Lakes and the Ottawa River, and south of Rupert's Land, was reorganised under the name "Quebec." The territory northeast of the St. John River on the Labrador coast was reassigned to the Newfoundland Colony.[9] The lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny Mountains became (British) Indian Territory, barred to settlement from colonies east of the line.[10] The proclamation line was not intended to be a permanent boundary between the colonists and Native American lands, but rather a temporary boundary that could be extended further west in an orderly, lawful manner.[11][12] It was also not designed as an uncrossable boundary; people could cross the line, but not settle past it.[13] Its contour was defined by the headwaters that formed the watershed along the Appalachians. All land with rivers that flowed into the Atlantic was designated for the colonial entities, while all the land with rivers that flowed into the Mississippi was reserved for the Native American populations. The proclamation outlawed the private purchase of Native American land, which had often created problems in the past. Instead, all future land purchases were to be made by Crown officials "at some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians". British colonials were forbidden to settle on native lands, and colonial officials were forbidden to grant ground or lands without royal approval. Organized land companies asked for land grants, but were denied by King George III.[14] British colonists and land speculators objected to the proclamation boundary since the British government had already assigned land grants to them. Including the wealthy owners of the Ohio company who protested the line to the governor of Virginia, as they had plans for settling the land to grow business.[15] Many settlements already existed beyond the proclamation line,[16] some of which had been temporarily evacuated during Pontiac's War, and there were many already granted land claims yet to be settled. For example, George Washington and his Virginia soldiers had been granted lands past the boundary. Prominent American colonials joined with the land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west.[3][17] The colonists' demands were met and the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties with the Native Americans.[18] The first two of these treaties were completed in 1768; the Treaty of Fort Stanwix adjusted the border with the Iroquois Confederacy in the Ohio Country and the Treaty of Hard Labour adjusted the border with the Cherokee in the Carolinas.[19][20] The Treaty of Hard Labour was followed by the Treaty of Lochaber in 1770, adjusting the border between Virginia and the Cherokee.[21] These agreements opened much of what is now Kentucky and West Virginia to British settlement.[22] The land granted by the Virginian and North Carolinian government heavily favored the land companies, seeing as they had more wealthy backers than the poorer settlers who wanted to settle west to hopefully gain a fortune.[23] ResponseMany colonists disregarded the proclamation line and settled west, which created tension between them and the Native Americans.[24] Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766) was a war involving Native American tribes, primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region after the end of the Seven Years' War. They were able to take over a large number of the forts which commanded the waterways involved in trade within the region and export to Great Britain.[25] The Proclamation of 1763 had been in the works before Pontiac's Rebellion, but the outbreak of the conflict hastened the process.[16] Legacy
Indigenous peoplesThe Royal Proclamation continued to govern the cession of Indigenous land in British North America, especially Upper Canada and Rupert's Land. Upper Canada created a platform for treaty making based on the Royal Proclamation. After loyalists moved into land after Britain's defeat in the American Revolution, the first impetus was created out of necessity.[26] According to historian Colin Calloway, "scholars disagree on whether the proclamation recognized or undermined tribal sovereignty".[27] Some see the Royal Proclamation of 1763 as a "fundamental document" for First Nations land claims and self-government.[28] It is "the first legal recognition by the British Crown of Aboriginal rights"[29] and imposes a fiduciary duty of care on the Crown. The intent and promises made to the native in the Proclamation have been argued to be of a temporary nature, only meant to appease the Native peoples who were becoming increasingly resentful of "settler encroachments on their lands"[30] and were capable of becoming a serious threat to British colonial settlement.[31][32] Advice given by a Sir William Johnson, superintendent of Indian Affairs in North America, to the Board of Trade on August 30, 1764, expressed that:
Anishinaabe jurist John Borrows has written that "the Proclamation illustrates the British government's attempt to exercise sovereignty over First Nations while simultaneously trying to convince First Nations that they would remain separate from European settlers and have their jurisdiction preserved."[34] Borrows further writes that the Royal Proclamation along with the subsequent Treaty of Niagara, provide for an argument that "discredits the claims of the Crown to exercise sovereignty over First Nations"[35] and affirms Aboriginal "powers of self-determination in, among other things, allocating lands".[36] Johnson v McintoshThe functional content of the proclamation was reintroduced into American law via Johnson v. Mcintosh [1823]. 250th anniversary celebrationsIn October 2013, the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation was celebrated in Ottawa with a meeting of Indigenous leaders and Governor-General David Johnston.[37] The Aboriginal movement Idle No More held birthday parties for this monumental document at various locations across Canada.[38] United StatesThe influence of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 on the coming of the American Revolution has been variously interpreted. Many historians argue that the proclamation ceased to be a major source of tension after 1768 since the aforementioned later treaties opened up extensive lands for settlement. Others have argued that colonial resentment of the proclamation contributed to the growing divide between the colonies and the mother country. Some historians argue that even though the boundary was pushed west in subsequent treaties, the British government refused to permit new colonial settlements for fear of instigating a war with Native Americans, which angered colonial land speculators.[39] Others argue that the Royal Proclamation imposed a fiduciary duty of care on the Crown.[40] George Washington was given 20,000 acres (81 km2) of wild land in the Ohio region for his services in the French and Indian War. In 1770, Washington took the lead in securing the rights of him and his old soldiers in the French War, advancing money to pay expenses on behalf of the common cause and using his influence in the proper quarters. In August 1770, it was decided that Washington should personally make a trip to the western region, where he located and surveyed tracts for himself and military comrades. After some dispute, he was eventually granted letters patent for tracts of land there. The lands involved were open to Virginians under terms of the Treaty of Lochaber of 1770, except for the lands located two miles (3.2 km) south of Fort Pitt, now known as Pittsburgh.[41] In the United States, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 ended with the American Revolutionary War because Great Britain ceded the land in question to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783). Afterward, the U.S. government also faced difficulties in preventing frontier violence and eventually adopted policies similar to those of the Royal Proclamation. The first in a series of Indian Intercourse Acts was passed in 1790, prohibiting unregulated trade and travel in Native American lands. In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson v. M'Intosh established that only the U.S. government, and not private individuals, could purchase land from Native Americans.[42] See also
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What was the name of the edict that declared that colonists should not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains?
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