The royal proclamation of 1763
effect on the virginia economic systems
The Virginia company needs more land to continue growing tobacco; however the royal proclamation of 1763 didn't allow them to. The French and Indian war, or the 7 years war is an important war, that took part in starting the revolutionary war. The French and Indian war was a war between the American 13 colonies, the Indians, and the British (french). The British (french), wanted control over the 13 colonies. The Americans wanted to separate from Europe and become independent, and the Indians wanted to keep their territories. When the war ended the royal proclamation of 1763 was made. It discontinued any westward expansion taking place. This was hard on the Virginia colony who needed an immense amount of land for farming tobacco, which was its primary trading resource.
the royal proclamation of 1763
The royal proclamation of 1763 is a very important document in history. It gives certain soldiers and militia members the right to a certain amount of land, depending on their status. for example it says, "to every person having the rank of a Field Officer--5,000 acres. To every Captain--3,000 acres...," and so on. It also limits people from interacting with the "indians". This meant that they could not buy their land or trade with them. the proclamation says this about that particular matter, "Territories reserved as aforesaid for the use of the said indians, to seize and apprehend all persons whatever standing charge of treason." trade from indians is also stated as illegal. The proclamation said, "and we do hereby strictly forbid,"..."all our loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever or taking possession of any of the lands above reserved without our especial leave and license from such settlements". The royal proclamation of 1763 sets the course for the next decade or so in the 13 colonies.
virginia economic systems
The Virginia economic systems revolved around tobacco and slave plantations. The plantations were teeming with slaves, who did the work in the fields, like harvesting and drying the tobacco. The owner was the overseer of the overseers. The overseers did the whipping and gave directions, and also made sure that everything got shipped into the city which leads to the market. The market operated upon a mercantile system, which means that people were taxed depending on what they bought and the money went to the government, or at least some of it did. Trade in Virginia was pretty normal, but still mercantile, if the government thought that the price was right, then that was the price, and no one could do anything to change it. But you could also trade it for something worth that price. The government accepted at least that.
All of this changed when the royal proclamation of 1763 was created and enforced...
royal proclamation of 1763's effect on Virginia.
The royal proclamation of 1763 had a big effect on Virginia in many ways. Since they were forbidden to buy land that was already reserved for the Indians, they couldn't obtain any more land for the production of tobacco. And the native Americans are one of their "trading partners", so they trade with them a lot. Not being able to trade with them is like cutting off your fingers, and closing off westward expansion is like taking off both of your legs. And just too rub it in it seems, the proclamation gave soldiers a large sum of land, which took away slaves and tobacco farming land because most likely those soldiers have no idea what to do with their newly acquired land. So cutting off tobacco trade means an increase in price which means less people are likely to buy the tobacco which is really bad for everyone.
The royal proclamation of 1763 affects Virginia the most because of the limited land and no more contact with the Indians, which has a devastating effect on their economy. The royal proclamation may have been a compromise but it was in their favor. The British wanted control over the 13 colonies and wanted it ASAP.