A historically important rare map of the new and existing British possessions in North America following the Royal Proclamation in 1763 at the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War and the signing the treaty of Paris.  This is the first state of this map that was published in Sayer & Bennett’s The America Atlas, 1776.
The Royal Proclamation attempted to regulate future Westward expansion beyond the “proclamation line” west of the Appalachian Mountain range by its colonies.  Its aim was to limit encroachment on Native Lands which they foresaw as a source of future conflicts by creating a set of protocols and the establishment of an “Indian Department” responsible for the relations with the First Nation peoples.  The Proclamation in effect took away the ability from Colonial governors to directly make land grants or acquire Native Lands.  The Proclamation of 1763 has since been instilled in Canada’s Constitution Act of 1982 and still forms the basis by which treaty negotiations are undertaken with First Nations in Canada.
The map was the work of Captain Jonathan Carver who undertook the surveying of the St-Lawrence region for the Crown as well as integrating existing French surveys. Of particular interest, is the delineation of the borders of the newly acquired  colony of Quebec.  As such,  the map, which was published 1776 served as a pictorial representation of the expanded boundaries of the Quebec Colony into New England and the Ohio Lands following the Quebec Act of 1774 (also known as the BNA Act) and served as a point of contention during the onset of the American Revolution.  In fact, the BNA Act was part of what became known as the Intolerable Acts passed by Britain as retribution for acts committed during the Boston Tea Party.  The borders between Quebec and the newly created United States would be effectively redrawn following the conclusion of the American Revolution in 1783 with Britain retreating from the area of what is today the United States.
(BLR #36170,  Kershaw#766, aadnc-aandc.gc.ca 250th Anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763).