Indian Reserve (1763)

The Indian Reserve was a territory under British rule in North America set aside in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 for use by Native Americans between 1763 and 1783.

In the modern United States it consisted of all the territory north of Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana that was east of the Mississippi River and west of the Eastern Continental Divide in the Appalachian Mountains that formerly comprised the eastern half of Louisiana (New France).

In modern Canada it consisted of all the land immediately north of the Great Lakes but south of Rupert's Land land belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company as well as a buffer between the Province of Quebec (1763-1791) and Rupert's Land stretching from Lake Nipissing to Newfoundland.

Most of the newly British territory had been claimed earlier by France but was ceded in the Treaty of Paris (1763) that ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years War. In the proclamation of 1763 George III consolidated much of the new territorial gains in three colonies in North America -- East Florida, West Florida and Quebec. The rest of the expanded British territory was left to Native Americans.

The proclamation also temporarily resolved jurisdictional claims for some of the areas near the Thirteen Colonies on the east coast.

According to the royal proclamation, all settlers in the territory (who were mostly French) were supposed to leave the territory or get official permission to stay. Many of the settlers moved to New Orleans and the French land on the west side of the Mississippi (particularly St. Louis, Missouri) which in turn had been ceded secretly to Spain to become Louisiana (New Spain). However, many of the settlers remained and the British did not actively attempt to evict them.

Restrictions on settlement in the land was to become a flash point in the American Revolutionary War. The revoking of the lands at the end of the war, was to continue to be a source of friction for the Native Americans who were to largely side against the United States in the War of 1812.

Timeline

Early settlements

*1675 - Jacques Marquette founds Great Village mission at Utica, Illinois
*1680 - Iroquois massacre Great Village
*1680 - Fort Crevecoeur established at Peoria, Illinois
*1696 - Cahokia, Illinois founded
*1703 - Kaskaskia, Illinois founded
*1717 - Illinois Country falls into Louisiana jurisdiction
*1720 - Fort de Chartres established on Mississippi River near Prairie du Rocher, Illinois
*1753 - Fort Presque Isle built near Erie, Pennsylvania
*1754 - Fort Duquesne founded at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

French and Indian War

*1754 - A French unit under Joseph Coulon de Jumonville orders George Washington to leave French territory at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Washington's militia attack the French and Jumonville is killed by Seneca nation chief Tanacharison while in custody of Washington igniting the French and Indian War.
*1754 - Washington surrenders to Jumonville's half brother Louis Coulon de Villiers in the Battle of the Great Meadows in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It is the only time Washington is to ever surrender in battle. He signs a document taking responsibility for the slaughter of Jumonville and is released. The document is to be used to widen the war into the global Seven Years War.
*1762 - Following massive French defeats, the French secretly cede Louisiana on the west side of the Mississippi to its ally Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)
*1763 - France cedes all lands in modern Canada and all lands east of the Mississippi in the Treaty of Paris. Terms call for religious tolerance in Quebec and unrestricted emigration from French Canada for 18 months
*1763 - George III issues the Royal Proclamation setting aside the Indian Reserve and orders all settlers to leave the reserve and declares that the Crown rather than individual colonies has the right to negotiate settlements

Push to settle the territory

*1764 - Announcement that Spain has acquired the west bank of the Mississippi in Louisiana (New Spain)
*1768 - Treaty of Fort Stanwix creates the Line of Property and Purchase Line in which the Iroquois cede much of Kentucky, West Virginia and sections of western Pennsylvania and New York
*1772 - The Grand Ohio Company gets charter to settle the Vandalia colony south of the Ohio River much of which is now West Virginia
*1774 - Quebec Act expands the borders of the Province of Quebec to take all the Native American land in Canada in the buffer with Rupert's Land as well as all the land in territory north of the Ohio River including, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and a section of Minnesota. The act is considered one the Intolerable Acts that contribute to the American Revolutionary War.
*1775 - Transylvania (colony) founded in what is now Kentucky by Richard Henderson. Daniel Boone blazes Wilderness Trail through Cumberland Gap and founds Boonesborough.
*1775 - Most of the Thirteen Colonies lay formal claim to the land extending the borders in straight lines west to the Mississippi.

American Revolutionary War

*1777 - Native Americans raids kill numerous settlers and most settlers abandon the territory
*1778 - Larger conflicts in the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War begin with the Siege of Boonesborough in which Daniel Boone is initially captured and "adopted" by the Shawnee but eventually escapes to lead a successful American defense of Boonesbourough.
*1779 - American victories in Battle of Vincennes, Fort Laurens, Battle of Saint Louis (only battle west of the Mississippi in Spanish held Louisiana (New Spain))
*1780 - British reassert control over the territory in Bird's invasion of Kentucky
*1781 - More British victories in Lochry's Defeat and Long Run Massacre
*1781 - Spain completes rout of Britain in Florida in the Battle of Pensacola (1781)
*1782 - British victories continue in Battle of Blue Licks -- 10 months after Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis surrender in Siege of Yorktown
*1783 - Treaty of Paris (1783) ends the war and the British cede the territory south of modern day Canada to the United States and Florida to Spain. United States repudiates the proclamation. No Native American tribes attend the negotiations.

See also

* Indiana
* Indian Wars
* Indian removal
* Indian reservation

References

* [http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/aboriginals/aboriginals3_e.html Canadiana.org map and background of territory]
* [http://maps.bpl.org/id/05_04_000101/ Boston Public Library Map of Canadian Portion of Territory]

External links

* [http://www.rism.org/isg/dlp/bc/background/1763.htm Text of Proclamation of 1763]
* [http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/proc63.htm UShistory.org]