| Find the watersheds with headwaters in the west and waters flowing eastward to the Atlantic Ocean vs. watersheds of rivers that flowed westward |
Source: National Atlas |
The expected shift of population to the west had substantial political ramifications. The French claimed the Ohio River watershed, and Native American land claims on the western boundaries of the colonies would have to be extinguished or finessed. The French and Indian War eliminated the French, but in 1763 the Native Americans led by Pontiac captured all the British forts west of the Ohio except Detroit (and Fort Pitt).
To the dismay of the colonial leaders, who expected the defeat of France to increase access to the lands in the Ohio River valley, George III issued the the Royal Proclamation of 1763. It blocked westward settlement by prohibiting colonial governors from authorizing surveys or issuing land grants beyond a Proclamation Line drawn at the crest of the Alleghenies. The objective was to minimize conflicts with the tribes (one chief, Pontiac, agreed to peace terms only in 1766) and reduce the costs to the English government of defending the frontier.
The Proclamation created 4 new colonies from the lands ceded by the French in the 1763 peace treaty. In addition, the king set aside for the Indians all of the Appalachians. The area blocked to colonial settlement was defined by the watershed boundary of "all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West." From the Proclamation of 1763:
And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West as aforesaid.
And We do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above reserved, without our especial leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained.
And We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any Lands within the Countries above described or upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such Settlements.
| Find the watersheds with headwaters in the west and waters flowing eastward to the Atlantic Ocean vs. watersheds of rivers that flowed westward |
Source: National Atlas |
George III's Proclamation Line may have been consistent with modern "smart growth" principles, but the speculators in the colonies placed a higher priority on increasing their personal wealth rather than reducing the overall coat of government. They agitated constantly to open up the western frontier and evaded the official limits on settlement. In 1768, the Iroquois and Cherokees signed the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Hard Labor, and in 1770 the Cherokees signed the Treaty of Lochaber, giving the English title to the lands north of the Ohio River. Land speculators hoped to obtain title to vast stretches of western lands at little or no cost from the colonial governornment, holding it for a generation or even two before selling it as population moved westward.