A Lair of Beasts

The vastness of the acquired territory from the French in 1763 was pretty overwhelming for King George and his ministers!  His first attempt to deal with the problem was to issue a proclamation stating that "no loving subject" could purchase land or settle in the territory without special license.  Present residents in the territory were to remove themselves "forthwith."  Trade could be carried on only by permit and under close surveillance. Officers would be stationed among the Indian tribes to preserve friendly relations and apprehend fugitives from colonial justice.  He planned to make the entire territory one big Indian reserve. 

King George's reasons were never quite clear.  Franklin and Washington thought it was to conciliate the Indians.  Both men were land speculators in the territory and owned considerable tracts of land.  Others thought the King wanted to limit the boundary of the seaboard colonies to preserve his imperial rule over the colonists. Trade was easier as well as subordination to England if there was a limit to the area inhabited by colonists. 

It was planned to gradually open tracts of land secured from the Indians for settlement, but it would be controlled and only when England said so.  This restrictive policy was not popular in the colonies, obviously, and surprisingly not in Britain either.  Edmund Burke said it was "an attempt to keep as a lair of beasts that earth, which God by an express character, has given to the children of man." 

The colonists were ready to spread out.  The western lands were theirs by charter and by conquest, as they had fought the war against the French as well.  The farmers saw the land as an opportunity for prime farming land, and the Indians were just an unprogressive and unproductive people.  The tide of homesteaders became an enormous wave, and any attempt to stop it was like holding back the ocean with a broom!  Some colonies attempted to adhere to the King's policy - Pennsylvania decreed the death penalty for all who refused to remove themselves from the territory.  How they planned to carry out that law is unknown, but it soon died.

There were still French settlements in the territory by the thousands -  Kaskaskia, Illinois, and the Wabash regions for example.  Many French crossed the Mississippi River and settled on the opposite bank on land still in Spain's hands.  Many more did not.

Next time...The settlement of Kaskaskia
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 24, 1935, canned beer made its debut.  In partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger's finest beer and cream ale to drinkers in Richmon, Virginia.  91% of the drinkers approved.