How did the French feel about the Royal Proclamation of 1763?

• A. They welcomed the Proclamation as a legitimate expansion of British power.
• B. They supported it because it protected their rights.
• C. They were indifferent to the Proclamation.
• D. They were upset because under British control their laws were gone and they did not want to submit to British authority.

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is how imperial rule changed who governed and whose laws applied in Canada after Britain took control. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 marked a shift from French to British authority in the region and laid out British governance, including enforcing British law, over former French territories. For the French population in Canada, this meant their laws and legal traditions were superseded by British ones, and they faced the obligation to submit to British authority. That sense of losing legal autonomy and being subject to a different system is what fuels the answer: they were upset because under British control their laws were gone and they did not want to submit to British authority. The other options don’t fit as well because the Proclamation didn’t primarily aim to expand British power as welcomed by the French, nor did it actively protect French rights at that moment, and it wasn’t a stance of indifference given the legal and political overhaul happening.