Historic Maps
1763 Map of "The British Government in Nth. America, Laid down agreeable to the Proclamation of Oct. 7, 1763"
1763-Dated Colonial Period, Map titled, "The British Government in Nth. America, Laid down agreeable to the Proclamation of Oct. 7, 1763", Engraved by John Gibson, London, Choice Extremely Fine.
Map Printed in black on fresh clean appearing laid period paper, measuring 8-3/8" x 10", this Engraved Map displays the various British Colonies in America following Great Britain's victory over the French in the Seven Years War. Engraved by John Gibson and originally published in the Gentleman's Magazine, with the light folds associated with maps from that publication with a trivial outer edge tear at upper right margin. A sharp line of demarcation indicates the westward boundary of the 13 Colonies, essentially along the Allegheny Mountains, beyond which the Colonists were prohibited from settling based on the Proclamation of October 7, 1863. The lands to the west are clearly marked on this Map as "Lands Reserved for Indians." A curious feature of this Map is the division of Florida into West and East. An inset of the Bermuda Islands appears in the lower right corner.
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.
The Proclamation forbade all settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, which was delineated as an Indian Reserve. 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.
The 1763 proclamation line is similar to the Eastern Continental Divide's path running northwards from Georgia to the Pennsylvania-New York border and north-eastwards past the drainage divide on the St. Lawrence Divide from there northwards 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.