King George III issued a proclamation in 1763 to bar colonial settlers from further encroaching on Indians in colonial North America. The proclamation resulted from the British victory over France in a war that lasted for seven years. The victory allowed the British to acquire the surrendered Ohio valley territory. This territory was between the Appalachian Mountains in the East and the Mississippi river in the West. The proclamation prohibited colonists from occupying land that was west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British feared that occupying the land would trigger violence from the inhabitants as well as stretch British administrative resources