British and treaties During the half-century directly following the Royal Proclamation, the colonial governments of North America embarked on signing a number of peace and land treaties with Aboriginal peoples to retain them as allies, while purchasing land for settlement and resource development.
During this period, however, the balance of power began to shift as the British consolidated their control.
The pragmatism that had prompted the British Crown to protect Aboriginal interests in the Royal Proclamation gave way to British paternalism, a policy of assimilation and the attitude that the Aboriginals were British subjects - and not equal, independent nations.