Relations Between Aboriginals And English

Submitted By jamiejames01
Words: 849
Pages: 4

For many centuries, relations have existed between Aboriginals and the French and the English. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III to establish a basis of government administration in the North American Territories formally ceded by France to Britain in the Treaty of Paris, following the Seven Years’ War. The Royal Proclamation set out guidelines for European settlement of Aboriginal territories in which is now North America. This gave aboriginals rights over their land and set the stage for settlement on the land claimed by the crown. It also came with conditions; it restricted trade between the Aboriginals and British colonials unless they were licensed to do so by the governor and the Aboriginals could only sell their land to the British and no other group. The 1763 Royal Proclamation is a defining document in the relationship between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginal people in North America. The Royal Proclamation declared that anyone who had either “wilfully or inadvertently” settled on the lands reserved for the Aboriginal Peoples were “forthwith to remove themselves from such settlements.” The Aboriginals were not to be “molested or disturbed” on their land. This meant that their land was their land and no one else could claim or settle on it. The Aboriginals were the first in North America and the French came and settled on their land to expand their colony, but in 1763, France had lost their new colony to Britain. Britain had obtained North America from the French after signing the Treaty of Paris, after the Seven Years’ War. The Aboriginals began to notice that they were losing their land quickly. The Royal Proclamation was in favour of the Aboriginals. It saved them from losing their land and kept settlers off it. The upper country was to be a vast Aboriginal reserve and all settlers were ordered to leave. Ownership of this land could only go to the English Crown. No private individuals or land companies could hold the claim to the land in the region. The Royal Proclamation was the first time that a piece of paper stated that a piece of land was claimed and no one could take it. The Royal Proclamation also came with conditions. Trade between British colonials and Aboriginal Peoples was to continue so long as colonial traders obtained licences from the governor or commander-in-chief of the colonies and so long as they adhered to the regulations. This meant that the British could come to the Aboriginal land and trade, as long as they had a licence from the governor, but they had to adhere to the regulations. Whatever the governor said that they could not trade, then they could not trade it. The Royal Proclamation states:
“We do, with the advice of out Privy Council strictly enjoin and require, that no private person do presume to make any purchase from the said Indians of any lands reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our colonies where we have thought proper to allow settlement: but that, if at any time of the said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said lands, the same shall be purchased only for us.”

What this condition meant for the Aboriginals was that when the Aboriginals were inclined to dispose of their land, they were only permitted to sell it to the British and no other group. For