Relations between British colonists and natives, which had been severely strained during the French and Indian War, had reached a new low during Pontiac's Rebellion.

People on both sides of the conflict had come to the conclusion that colonists and natives are inherently different and cannot live with each other. 

The British government had also come to the conclusion that colonists and natives must be kept apart.

On October 7, 1763, the Crown had issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, an effort to reorganize British North America after the Treaty of Paris.

The Proclamation, already in the works when Pontiac's War erupted, had been hurriedly issued after news of the uprising reached London.

Officials had drawn a boundary line between the British colonies along the seaboard, and native lands west of the Allegheny Ridge (i.e., the Eastern Divide), creating a vast 'Indian Reserve' that stretched from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi River and from Florida to Quebec.

It thus confirmed the antebellum demarcation that had been set by the Treaty of Easton in 1758.

By forbidding colonists from trespassing on native lands, the British government hopes to avoid more conflicts like Pontiac's Rebellion.