The quest for land was a major issue in the early history of

America. For English settlers, much of the land west of the Appalachian
Mountains were wild lands where bloodthirsty Native Americans
roamed looking to murder and scalp any white man who dared venture
into their territories. Because of the English intrusion into Native
American lands, the Native Americans choose to side with the French
in the French-Indian War. Following the defeat of the French in 1763,
the British issued the Proclamation of 1763, attempting to make the
Native Americans happy by not settling in their lands. However,
following the Revolutionary War, the new founded American
government sought to expand into these once prohibited lands, issuing
the Northwest Ordinance. The British and the Americans took different
approaches in their expansionary ideas, as the British attempted to
appease the Indians by ceasing expansion, and the new American
government undertook an early attempt at manifest destiny.
The most striking difference between the Northwest Ordinance
and the Proclamation of 1763 is how each dealt with the issue of
expansion. After a brutal war with the Native Americans, the Britishs
main goal in 1763 was to limit the amount of risk that faced to
colonists. If colonists continued settling Native lands, then the British
would have to continue to provide more protection to the colonies
(forces that might be needed elsewhere in the Empire) against raiding
Natives or possible Native wars. In order to prevent this, the British
issued a proclamation line through the Appalachian Mountains that
prevented settlers to move west of it. However, the Northwest
Ordinance established settling grounds in the once prohibited
territories. However, many Natives took issue with this and attempted
to fight, which lead to the organization of a new army to squash the
Native uprisings.
The treatment of Indians by the different governments also
stands out as huge difference between the Proclamation of 1763 and
the Northwest Ordinance. The Proclamation of 1763 drew the
proclamation line in hopes of eventually gaining lawful control from the
Native Americans. Some point to the proclamation as British
recognition that the lands west of the Appalachians truly belonged to
Native Americans, which irked some colonists. The Americans,
however, found no issue in settling the lands gained through the
Revolutionary War. The Natives were quick to fight back, and were able
to kill around 800 American soldiers. The Americans, not wanting their
newly found union to look weak, raised a federal army under the
instruction of George Washington and marched into their newly created
territories and ended the Native rebellion.

Despite the differences, both established new governmental

lands in their respective rights. While the Northwest Ordinance only
established territories at the time and did not admit any states, it
created the method for which states could be admitted into the new
United States. The Treaty of Paris following the French-Indian War led to
the acquirement of new lands for the British Empire. In response to
this, Britain created new territories in its new lands: Quebec, the
Floridas, and Grenada. None of these territories were transferred to
the new United States after the Revolutionary War surprisingly, and
only Florida was gained by the United States after purchasing it from
Spain in 1821.
The Americans were much less merciless in their handling of the
lands west of the Appalachians than the British were. By all indications,
this points to the beginning of one of Americas most important
ideologies of Manifest Destiny. The Northwest ordinance was just the
beginning of Native American removal and the dominance on the North
American continent by the United States.