1 September 1993
2
3 The Royal Proclamation of 1763
4
5 ========================
6
7 October 7, 1763
8
9 By the King, a Proclamation
10 George R.
11
12 Whereas We have taken into Our Royal Consideration the
13 extensive and valuable Acquisitions in America, secured to our
14 Crown by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace concluded at Paris,
15 the 10th Day of February last; and being desirous that all Our
16 loving Subjects, as well of our Kingdom as of our Colonies in
17 America, may avail themselves with all convenient Speed, of the
18 great Benefits and Advantages which must accrue therefrom to
19 their Commerce, Manufactures, and Navigation, We have thought
20 fit, with the Advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our
21 Royal Proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our
22 loving Subjects, that we have, with the Advice of our Said Privy
23 Council, granted our Letters Patent, under our Great Seal of
24 Great Britain, to erect, within the Countries and Islands ceded
25 and confirmed to Us by the said Treaty, Four distinct and
26 separate Governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec,
27 East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded
28 as follows, viz.
29
30 First - The Government of Quebec bounded on the Labrador
31 Coast by the River St. John, and from thence by a Line drawn from
32 the Head of that River through the Lake St. John, to the South
33 end of the Lake Nipissim; from whence the said Line, crossing the
34 River St. Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain, in 45. Degrees of
35 North Latitude, passes along the High Lands which divide the
36 Rivers that empty themselves into the said River St. Lawrence
37 from those which fall into the Sea; and also along the North
38 Coast of the Baye des Chaleurs, and the Coast of the Gulph of St.
39 Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the Mouth of
40 the River St. Lawrence by the West End of the Island of
41 Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River of St. John.
42 Secondly - The Government of East Florida, bounded to the
43 Westward by the Gulph of Mexico and the Apalachicola River; to
44 the Northward by a Line drawn from that part of the said River
45 where the Chatahouchee and Flint Rivers meet, to the source of
46 St. Mary's River, and by the course of the said River to the
47 Atlantic Ocean; and the Eastward and Southward by the Atlantic
48 Ocean and the Gulph of Florida, including all Islands within Six
49 Leagues of the Sea Coast.
50 Thirdly - The Government of West Florida, bounded to the
51 Southward by the Gulph of Mexico, including all Islands within
52 Six Leagues of the Coast, from the River Apalachicola to Lake
53 Pontchartrain; to the Westward by the said Lake, the Lake
54 Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the Northward by a Line
55 drawn due East from that part of the River Mississippi which lies
56 in 31 Degrees North Latitude, to the River Apalachicola or
57 Chatahouchee; and the Eastward by the said River.
58 Fourthly - The Government of Grenada, comprehending the
59 Island of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the
60 Islands of Dominico, St. Vincent's and Tobago. And to the end
61 that the open and free Fishery of our Subjects may be extended to
62 and carried on upon the Coast of Labrador, and the adjacent
63 Islands, We have thought fit, with the advice of our said Privy
64 Council to put all that Coast, from the River St. John's to
65 Hudson's Streights, together with the Islands of Anticosti and
66 Madelaine, and all other smaller Islands lying upon the said
67 Coast, under the care and Inspection of our Governor of
68 Newfoundland.
69 We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council, thought
70 fit to annex the Islands of St. John's and Cape Breton, or Isle
71 Royale, with the lesser Islands adjacent thereto, to our Govern-
72 ment of Nova Scotia.
73 We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council
74 aforesaid, annexed to our Province of Georgia all the Lands lying
75 between the Rivers Alatamaha and St. Mary's.
76 And whereas it will greatly contribute to the speedy
77 settling of our said new Governments, that our loving Subjects
78 should be informed of our Paternal care, for the security of the
79 Liberties and Properties of those who are and shall become
80 Inhabitants thereof, We have thought fit to publish and declare,
81 by this Our Proclamation, that We have, in the Letters Patent
82 under our Great Seal of Great Britain, by which the said
83 Governments are constituted, given express Power and Direction to
84 our Governors of our Said Colonies respectively, that so soon as
85 the state and circumstances of the said Colonies will admit
86 thereof, they shall, with the Advice and Consent of the Members
87 of our Council, summon and call General Assemblies within the
88 said Governments respectively, in such Manner and Form as is used
89 and directed in those Colonies and Provinces in America which are
90 under our immediate Government; And We have also given Power to
91 the said Governors, with the consent of our Said Councils, and
92 the Representatives of the People so to be summoned as aforesaid,
93 to make, constitute, and ordain Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances
94 for the Public Peace, Welfare, and good Government of our said
95 Colonies, and of the People and Inhabitants thereof, as near as
96 may be agreeable to the Laws of England, and under such
97 Regulations and Restrictions as are used in other Colonies; and
98 in the mean Time, and until such Assemblies can be called as
99 aforesaid, all Persons Inhabiting in or resorting to our Said
100 Colonies may confide in our Royal Protection for the Enjoyment of
101 the Benefit of the Laws of our Realm of England; for which
102 Purpose We have have given Power under our Great Seal to the
103 Governors of our said Colonies respectively to erect and
104 constitute, with the Advice of our said Councils respectively,
105 Courts of Judicature and public Justice within our Said Colonies
106 for hearing and determining all Causes, as well Criminal as
107 Civil, according to Law and Equity, and as near as may be
108 agreeable to the Laws of England, with Liberty to all Persons who
109 may think themselves aggrieved by the Sentences of such Courts,
110 in all Civil Cases, to appeal, under the usual Limitations and
111 Restrictions, to Us in our Privy Council.
112
113
114 We have also thought fit, with the advice of our Privy
115 Council as aforesaid, to give unto the Governors and Councils of
116 our said Three new Colonies, upon the Continent full Power and
117 Authority to settle and agree with the Inhabitants of our said
118 new Colonies or with any other Persons who shall resort thereto,
119 for such Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, as are now or
120 hereafter shall be in our Power to dispose of; and them to grant
121 to any such Person or Persons upon such Terms, and under such
122 moderate Quit-Rents, Services and Acknowledgments, as have been
123 appointed and settled in our other Colonies, and under such other
124 Conditions as shall appear to us to be necessary and expedient
125 for the Advantage of the Grantees, and the Improvement and
126 settlement of our said Colonies.
127
128 And Whereas, We are desirous, upon all occasions, to testify
129 our Royal Sense and Approbation of the Conduct and bravery of the
130 Officers and Soldiers of our Armies, and to reward the same, We
131 do hereby command and impower our Governors of our said Three new
132 Colonies, and all other our Governors of our several Provinces on
133 the Continent of North America, to grant without Fee or Reward,
134 to such reduced Officers as have served in North America during
135 the late War, and to such Private Soldiers as have been or shall
136 be disbanded in America, and are actually residing there, and
137 shall personally apply for the same, the following Quantities of
138 Lands, subject, at the Expiration of Ten Years, to the same Quit-
139 Rents as other Lands are subject to in the Province within which
140 they are granted, as also subject to the same Conditions of
141 Cultivation and Improvement; viz.
142
143 To every Person having the Rank of a Field Officer --
144 5,000 Acres.
145
146 To every Captain -- 5,000 Acres.
147
148 To every Subaltern or Staff Officer, -- 2,000 Acres.
149
150 To every Non-Commission Officer, -- 200 Acres.
151
152 To every Private Man -- 50 Acres.
153
154 We do likewise authorize and require the Governors and
155 Commanders in Chief of all our said Colonies upon the Continent
156 of North America to grant the like Quantities of Land, and upon
157 the same conditions, to such reduced Officers of our Navy of like
158 Rank as served on board our Ships of War in North America at the
159 times of the Reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec in the late War,
160 and who shall personally apply to our respective Governors for
161 such Grants.
162
163 And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our
164 Interest, and the Security of our Colonies, that the several
165 Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who
166 live under our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in
167 the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as,
168 not having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are reserved to
169 them, or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds. -- We do
170 therefore, with the Advice or our Privy Council, declare it to be
171 our Royal Will and Pleasure, that no Governor or Commander in
172 Chief in any of our Colonies of Quebec, East Florida, or West
173 Florida, do presume, upon any Pretence whatever, to grant
174 Warrants of Survey, or pass any Patents for Lands beyond the
175 Bounds of their respective Governments, as described in their
176 Commissions; as also that no Governor or Commander in Chief in
177 any of our other Colonies or Plantations in America do presume
178 for the present, and until our further Pleasure be known, to
179 grant Warrants of Survey, or pass Patents for any Lands beyond
180 the Heads or Sources of any of the Rivers which fall into the
181 Atlantic Ocean from the West and North West, or upon any Lands
182 whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us as
183 aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them.
184
185 And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and
186 Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our
187 Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said
188 Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the
189 Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of
190 the Territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all
191 the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of
192 the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West
193 as aforesaid.
194
195 And We do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our
196 Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from making any Purchases or
197 Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands
198 above reserved, without our especial leave and Licence for that
199 Purpose first obtained.
200
201 And, We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons
202 whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated
203 themselves upon any Lands within the Countries above described,
204 or upon any other Lands which, not having been ceded to or
205 purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said Indians as
206 aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such Settlements.
207
208 And whereas great Frauds and Abuses have been committed in
209 purchasing Lands of the Indians, to the great Prejudice of our
210 Interests, and to the great Dissatisfaction of the said Indians;
211 In order, therefore, to prevent such Irregularities for the
212 future, and to the end that the Indians may be convinced of our
213 Justice and determined Resolution to remove all reasonable Cause
214 of Discontent, We do, with the Advice of our Privy Council
215 strictly enjoin and require, that no private Person do presume to
216 make any purchase from the said Indians of any Lands reserved to
217 the said Indians, within those parts of our Colonies where, We
218 have thought proper to allow Settlement; but that, if at any Time
219 any of the Said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said
220 Lands, the same shall be Purchased only for Us, in our Name, at
221 some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians, to be held
222 for that Purpose by the Governor or Commander in Chief of our
223 Colony respectively within which they shall lie; and in case they
224 shall lie within the limits of any Proprietary Government, they
225 shall be purchased only for the Use and in the name of such
226 Proprietaries, conformable to such Directions and Instructions as
227 We or they shall think proper to give for that Purpose; And we
228 do, by the Advice of our Privy Council, declare and enjoin, that
229 the Trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our
230 Subjects whatever, provided that every Person who may incline to
231 Trade with the said Indians do take out a Licence for carrying on
232 such Trade from the Governor or Commander in Chief of any of our
233 Colonies respectively where such Person shall reside, and also
234 give Security to observe such Regulations as We shall at any Time
235 think fit, by ourselves or by our Commissaries to be appointed
236 for this Purpose, to direct and appoint for the Benefit of the
237 said Trade:
238
239 And we do hereby authorize, enjoin, and require the
240 Governors and Commanders in Chief of all our Colonies
241 respectively, as well those under Our immediate Government as
242 those under the Government and Direction of Proprietaries, to
243 grant such Licences without Fee or Reward, taking especial Care
244 to insert therein a Condition, that such Licence shall be void,
245 and the Security forfeited in case the Person to whom the same is
246 granted shall refuse or neglect to observe such Regulation as We
247 shall think proper to prescribe as aforesaid.
248
249 And we do further expressly enjoin and require all Officers
250 whatever, as well Military as those Employed in the Management
251 and Direction of Indian Affairs, within the Territories reserved
252 as aforesaid for the use of the said Indians, to seize and
253 apprehend all Persons whatever, who standing charged with
254 Treason, Misprisions of Treason, Murders, or other Felonies or
255 Misdemeanors, shall fly from Justice and take Refuge in the said
256 Territory, and to send them under a proper guard to the Colony
257 where the Crime was committed of which they stand accused, in
258 order to take their Trial for the same.
259
260 Given at our Court at St. James's the 7th Day of October
261 1763, in the Third Year of our Reign.
262
263 GOD SAVE THE KING
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