Which 18th-century frontier fort at the current site of Cumberland, Maryland, USA was an important military and economic center during the war, 1756-63, that pitted the colonies of British America against those of New FranceFrance?
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–63) comprised the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War of 1756–63. It pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France. Both sides were supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as by American Indian allies. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British North American colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. The European nations declared war on one another in 1756 following months of localized conflict, escalating the war from a regional affair into an intercontinental conflict.
Royal Proclamation of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. It rendered worthless land grants given by the British government to Americans who fought for the crown against France. The Proclamation angered American colonists who wanted to continue their westward expansion into new farm lands and wanted to keep their control of local government. The Royal Proclamation continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada. The 1763 proclamation line is similar to the Eastern Continental Divide's path running northwards from Georgia to the Pennsylvania–New York border, and north-eastwards past the drainage divide on the St. Lawrence Divide from there northwards through New England.