The Proclamation of 1763 banned settlement west of which mountain range?

The Proclamation of 1763 banned new colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Issued by King George III on October 7, 1763, the Royal Proclamation followed Britain’s victory over France in the Seven Years’ War. It drew a boundary broadly along the Appalachian watershed and reserved much of the land beyond it for Native American peoples.

The policy was intended to reduce frontier warfare and prevent colonists from moving into territories that Britain had not formally acquired through agreements with Native nations. It also required future land purchases from Indigenous peoples to be handled through the Crown rather than by private colonists or land companies.

The boundary was not meant to be a permanent, uncrossable wall. People could travel beyond it, but colonial governments were not supposed to authorize new settlements there. Many colonists and speculators resented the restriction because they expected access to western lands after Britain defeated France. That resentment made the proclamation an important source of tension before the American Revolution.

The Allegheny Mountains form part of the Appalachian system, which is why some descriptions use the more specific term “Allegheny.” The quiz’s broader answer is the standard canonical one.