Today in History: The Proclamation of 1763

On this day (October 7) in 1763, King George III closed lands west of the Appalachians to English colonists. He did this to keep faith with his allies among the native peoples who had supported England in the French and Indian Wars. Colonists, however, saw it as a breach of good faith with them and further proof that the king and ministers of the mother country did not have their best interests at heart. They saw the lands west to the Mississippi as the key to their future prosperity and the decision to try and cut them off from them as a betrayal.