| Royal Proclamation |
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|The circumstances under which the Royal Proclamation was written give a clear meaning of the political reasoning behind the document. The|
|knowledge that a historian brings into analyzing the document can be used to understand why it was written and at whom is the document |
|directly or indirectly intended for. At the time of the Royal Proclamation, North America had just gone through a major shift in power, |
|where the balance of influence which for a century had been balanced between French and British spheres of authority was now entirely |
|dominated by England. |
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|For King George, the prospect of now controlling most of colonial North America meant there was little or no opposition to further |
|expansion to the rest of the continent. But in his Proclamation, there is a tone of warning and apprehension. He wants to make sure that |
|any future growth is controlled by England, not colonists. For the populations of North America, the capitulation of Nouvelle France had |
|consequences far beyond what could be appreciated 5,000km in England. The thirteen colonies that lay on the Eastern seaboard of the |
|continent felt that the end of French influence in the area would allow the expansion of territories and new exploration to the West. The|
|native population were now in a position that they had never been exposed to before. Instead of being a trading tool to European |
|colonists, they now found themselves at the mercy of British expansion, aggression and exploitation. The Native population had turned to |
|War in order to stop the flow of settlers into their lands. King George had to deal with the Native Question in a different way which is |
|why he issued the Proclamation. |
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