The 'Royal Proclamation' of 1763: A Roundtable Discussion

This October marks the 250th anniversary of the “Royal Proclamation” of 1763, and the Massachusetts imprint of this famous document is now on display in the Old State House’s Council Chamber; as part of the special exhibition “1763: A Revolutionary Peace.”

A landmark of colonial history, the 1763 Proclamation set forth ambitious plans for ruling vast North American territories Britain had acquired as a result of victories over France and Spain in the just-concluded "French and Indian" or Seven Years War.

Establishing boundaries and governments for the new British provinces of Quebec, East and West Florida, and Grenada, the Proclamation also attempted to reconcile colonial demands to settle interior lands with the rights of Native peoples living there, raising questions about the coexistence of sovereign Native nations and European empires-and their U.S. and Canadian successor states-that still resonate today.

Chaired by Prof. Daniel Richter, director of the University of Pennsylvania's McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the Royal Proclamation roundtable will feature noted Dartmouth historian of Native America Prof. Colin Calloway; Dr. Karl Hele, Director of First Peoples Studies at Concordia University and a member of the Garden River First Nation Anishinaabeg; and Atlantic and British imperial historian Dr. Heather Welland of Binghamton University.

Presented with generous McNeil Center and University of Massacusetts Boston History Department support, this event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. A light reception will follow.