Studies in American History 
219 
Alvord, Carter, and others have shown that British statesmen 
had something of a conception of the fact that a new and 
larger British Empire had come into existence as a result of 
the Seven-Years’ War, and that the Proclamation of 1763 was 
only a temporary step until a larger and more satisfactory 
imperial policy could be determined upon. The American 
West of that day, the region between the mountains and the 
Mississippi River, presented many difficult problems to the 
governing authorities in England, and it was, without doubt, 
an extremely important factor to be considered in the formu- 
lation of a new imperial policy, but its importance in the 
minds of the British statesmen of that day might easily be 
exaggerated. The West was a region which was little under- 
stood at that time and, so far as it was concerned, Indian 
relations and the fur trade seemed to be the two problems 
most pressing for solution. Until a definite policy could be 
determined upon, the logical thing for British statesmen to 
do, or to try to do, was to limit westward migration or to 
divert the stream of migrrdion elsewhere than to the West 
where difficulties with the Indians were certain to be en- 
countered. The West was not the only problem, however, 
and possibly not the most difficult one, which British states- 
men faced. The Treaty of 1763 transferred Canada to Great 
Britain, and Canada was inhabited by French people who 
had no desire to become Englishmen. On the contrary, there 
was a determination, not fully appreciated by those in author- 
ity in England not only at that time but for many years 
afterwards, on the part of the French Canadians to retain 
their racial identity. This situation presented a new colonial 
problem to British ministers. The first thought of the British 
ministry was that Canada would become an English colony, 
and it was upon this supposition that British policy was 
formulated. The four new colonies defined in the Proclama- 
tion of 1763 were to have representative assemblies “so soon 
as the state and circumstances of the said Colonies will admit 
thereof”,- and it was hoped that this liberal provision would 
attract English settlers to these regions and thus relieve the 
pressure on the Indian frontier west of the mountains. 
^ Lords of I'rade to Earl of Halifax, October 4, 1763, and Privy Council Register, 
Geo. Ill, p. 112. Also the Comm'ssion to James Muriay as governor of Quebec. These 
documents are published in Adam Shortt and Arthur G. Doughty, Documents Relating 
to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1750-1791 (Ottawa, 1918), I, 156, 159, 165, 175, 
185. 
