Colonial America, 1776 – British Possessions on the Eve of Revolution

Colonial America, 1776 – British Possessions on the Eve of Revolution

About This Map

What it shows

Beyond the Appalachian Mountains lay Crown territory administered from Quebec, with the Proclamation Line of 1763 barring colonial settlement westward. British East and West Florida held the Gulf coast to the south.^{[1, p. 61]}

Quick Facts

The essentials

Quick Facts

Period: Early Modern World Region Covered: Eastern North America - the Atlantic seaboard from Nova Scotia to British Florida, west to the Mississippi River, bounded by the Great Lakes to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south Classification: Political Map

These United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States^[2]

The Declaration of Independence, Second Continental Congress

Adopted on 4 July 1776^[2], formally severing the thirteen colonies shown here from British rule^[2]

Timeline

How it unfolded

10 February 1763

Treaty of Paris Ends the Seven Years' War in America

Britain and France concluded the Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763^{[1, p. 61]}, under which Canada and the Ohio Valley were ceded to the English^{[3, p. 347]}. The Crown's 1763 proclamation then set out to provide for the government of the possessions acquired by this treaty^{[1, p. 61]}.

7 October 1763

Royal Proclamation of 1763

The royal proclamation of 7 October 1763 erected four new governments, Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, in the territory ceded by the treaty^{[1, p. 61]}. It also defined certain interior boundaries and regulated trade and intercourse with the Indians^{[1, p. 61]}.

22 March 1765

Passage of the Stamp Act

Parliament passed the Stamp Act on 22 March 1765^{[4, p. 38]}^{[5, p. 164]}, taxing deeds and conveyances, college degrees, advertisements and other printed matter^[6]. An immense disturbance arose in America, and the act was repealed in March 1766^{[7, p. 139]}.

16 December 1773

Boston Tea Party

On the night of 16 December 1773 the Boston Tea Party used 352 chests of tea, with Boston Harbor as the mixing caldron^[8]. Parliament answered with the Boston Port Act, which closed the harbor until indemnity for the destroyed tea was paid^{[4, p. 38]}.

5 September 1774

First Continental Congress Meets

Delegates from the colonies, Georgia excepted, assembled at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia on 5 September 1774 and organised the First Continental Congress^[9]^{[10, p. 183]}. Its Declaration and Resolves of 14 October 1774 stated the colonies' position against Parliament^{[1, p. 61]}.

19 April 1775

Battles of Lexington and Concord

British troops reached Lexington soon after sunrise on 19 April 1775 and found about seventy minutemen drawn up on the green^{[11, p. 322]}. Militia from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island then marched on the British army at Boston^{[12, p. 31]}, beginning the siege of the city^{[13, p. 2]}.

4 July 1776

Declaration of Independence Adopted

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, announcing that the Thirteen Colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were no longer part of the British Empire^[14]. Congress had voted for independence two days earlier, on 2 July^[14].

3 September 1783

Treaty of Paris Recognises the United States

The Treaty of Paris, signed on 3 September 1783 and ratified by Congress on 14 January 1784, formally ended the war between Great Britain and the United States^[15]. According to Jefferson, the preliminary treaty of 30 November 1782 had already acknowledged American independence and a western boundary on the Mississippi^{[16, p. 41]}.

Dig Deeper

Copy any prompt below into your favourite AI chat to keep exploring.

Go Deeper

Want the serious version?

Explain why Britain's Proclamation Line of 1763, running along the Appalachian Mountains on this map, blocked the same thirteen colonies from settling land they'd just helped win in the French and Indian War, and how that decision helped push them toward declaring independence in 1776.

Go Sideways

Want a different angle?

Argue whether the real fault line on this 1776 map is the Atlantic coastline separating Britain from its colonies, or the Proclamation Line cutting through the Appalachians and separating the colonies from their own future.

Go Offbeat

Want it a bit silly?

Pitch me the Proclamation Line of 1763 like it's the most infuriating property dispute in history: Britain wins the war, grabs the deed to everything past the Appalachians, then tells its own thirteen colonies they still can't move in.