Analysis of Philosophical Principles in the Royal Proclamation of 1763

This essay delves into the philosophical principles embedded within the Royal Proclamation of 1763, focusing on the influence of Thomas Hobbes' ideas. It examines the proclamation's context, including the aftermath of the Seven Years' War and the British control of North America. The assignment explores Hobbes' principles of human nature, ethics, double intellectual influence, and materialism as they relate to the proclamation's goals and impact. Furthermore, it analyzes other philosophical principles enshrined in the Royal Proclamation, such as Aboriginal rights and the concept of self-determination. The essay also discusses the proclamation's impacts, including the resentment it caused among the thirteen British colonies and its role in the lead-up to the revolutionary war. The essay concludes by summarizing the key philosophical principles and their significance in the context of the Royal Proclamation.

Running head: ROYAL PROCLAMATION
Royal Proclamation
Name
ID
Course
Unit
Lecturer
Date

ROYAL PROCLAMATION 2
Philosophical principles enshrined in the Royal Proclamation of 1973
Introduction
Settling of the Aboriginal territory was full of disagreement between the participants,
however, what assisted the settlement was the Royal Proclamation. Royal Proclamation refers to
a document which gives out the guidelines on how Europeans could settle the Aboriginal land,
which today is referred to as North America according to Aldridge, (2015). The person who
issued the report was King George III in the year 1763 which declared that North America was a
British territory after they had won the seven years battle. In this assignment, it is going to
elaborate on philosophical principles from Thomas Hobbes’ that are enshrined in the 1763 Royal
Proclamation and focus on similar philosophical beliefs from other texts with the same message.
Thomas Hobbes’ principles
The famous philosopher Thomas Hobbes addresses the challenges in political and social
disorder. He elaborates various principles that go hand in hand with Royal Proclamation of 1763
according to Hobbes, (2016). One of the principles is human nature and ethics. The Royal
proclamation aimed at bringing the spirit of self-determination among the Europeans, that is why
it may be referred to as the Magana Carta of India. In Hobbes principles of human nature and
ethics, it illustrates that what determines the decision of human being is the situation they find
themselves into at any moment. In some cases, there is no political authority, and human beings
have to use a different approach in solving the stalemate.
Consequently, the challenge when there is no political authority, some people tend to
violate human rights which would have been in place if there was a standing authoritative body
in reference to Spragens, (2015). To get the most effective results, people need to separate

ROYAL PROCLAMATION 3
politics from ethics which always come as a result of human nature. The concept of Royal
Proclamation existed when there was no apparent authority, and the guidelines were based on
character in reference to Foster, (2016). The second principle of Hobbes is the double intellectual
influence. In his Leviathan work, Hobbes illustrate these two forces as politics and religion. He
elaborates that people should not concentrate much on political leaders and forget God.
However, these two forces mainly conflict to some instances. In the Royal Proclamation, it
addressed the consent of being Godly whereby when two nations are disagreeing for a particular
territory when one takes the land the owner of the resources must be compensated all that exist in
the area according to Mann, (2017). Apart from the above issue, there is also the principle of
materialism. In this philosophy, it illustrates that the mind of human beings always focusses on
the material. For instance, before the European countries agreed on the Royal Proclamation,
British were viewing many territories as their own, they did everything to ensure they gained
more colonies. However, the coming of the Royal Proclamation brings out the criteria of
claiming a particular place as their territory. Sometimes the conflict could arise between the
colonizers as each of them claim that they were the first people to occupy the specific area. The
Royal Proclamation have addressed various issues about the materialist nature of different
countries.
Other philosophical principles enshrined in 1763 Royal Proclamation
Apart from the above thoughtful guides, other policies are included in the Royal
Proclamation. One of the things from the coursework that is enshrined in the Royal Proclamation
is the Aboriginal rights. The most obvious issue is the spirit of self-determination. Every nation
has the right to self-determination, and no one can dismiss the power of another in reference to
Watkins, (2017). The second issue is the reliability of human judgment. Human beings are

ROYAL PROCLAMATION 4
always mean in their opinion, they mostly consider what benefits them more than others. For
instance, in the issue of the Royal Proclamation, British is the leading player in the war relating
to territories. The thinking of the British is that all the unoccupied regions belong to them. This
decision calls for science assistance it was necessary for the disagreeing nations to make use of
computers to keep records that would assist them in getting the best decision. After the Royal
Proclamation, countries could not disagree because of territories because there were records to
explain the issue beyond the human judgment which seems to be unreliable and could lead to
disagreements in most of the times according to Strauss, (2017).
British proved to be powerful, through the treaty, the ensured that no country took away
the lands the took from France. The allowed no colonist to go to the areas. However, this
proclamation was not as effective as many countries did not obey it, it was the source of the
revolutionary war. No country could not agree with the motive of the British to hinder them from
stepping up on their territories yet every nation was fighting to have more boundaries than the
others.
On the other hand, there are several impacts of this Royal Proclamation of 1763 in
reference to Fenge & Aldridge, (2015). One of the significances was that it came true to the
Canadians that they could not trust the British authority in protecting the French culture. When
they called for the signing of the treaty, no country could understand their intention. In the latter
days, many European nations came to realize that, the agreement was to benefit the British only
and this fueled the emergence of the revolutionary wars. The second impact of this treat was that
it led to the resentment between the thirteen British colonies as it prohibited the expansion of
Westward towards the Ohio River Valley. These colonies started the war against the British
move, the opposed man things that the British government came to establish.

ROYAL PROCLAMATION 5
Conclusion
Hobbes’ is a great philosopher who has impacted the lives of many people and countries
mainly when it comes to the decision-making process. The theories that he had elaborated are
evident in the treaty of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. One of them is the spirit of self-
determination that is evident among the British. The aim of the British in bringing up the
agreement is to benefit themselves and ensure other colonies do not get many territories as they
have during the colonization period.

ROYAL PROCLAMATION 6
References
Aldridge, J. (2015). Keeping Promises-the Royal Proclamation of 1763, Aboriginal Rights, and
T. Mcgill-queens University Press.
Fenge, T., & Aldridge, J. (2015). Keeping Promises: The Royal Proclamation of 1763,
Aboriginal Rights, and Treaties in Canada. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP.
Foster, H. (2016). Keeping Promises: The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Aboriginal Rights, and
Treaties in Canada. BC Studies, (192), 149.
Hobbes, T. (2016). Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (Longman Library of Primary Sources in
Philosophy). Routledge.
Mann, J. (2017). Keeping Promises: The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Aboriginal Rights, and
Treaties in Canada ed. by Terry Fenge and Jim Aldridge. British Journal of Canadian
Studies, 30(2), 263-263.
Spragens Jr, T. A. (2015). The politics of motion: The world of Thomas Hobbes. University Press
of Kentucky.
Strauss, L. (2017). On the spirit of Hobbes’s political philosophy. In Thomas Hobbes (pp. 77-
106). Routledge.
Watkins, J. W. (2017). Philosophy and Politics In Hobbes 1. In Thomas Hobbes (pp. 107-128).
Routledge.