Author: British Board of Trade

In this letter to King George III, dated April 25, 1769, the British Board of Trade expresses their disapproval of Sir William Johnson’s departure from the king’s instructions when negotiating the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. The treaty’s northern section of the boundary line for the British colonies extended to the Cherokee River, which conflicted with the Cherokee’s claim to the land confirmed in a previous treaty for the southern segment of the boundary.

In this December 23, 1767, letter to Lord Shelburne, the secretary of state for the Southern Department, the British Board of Trade expresses their support for a boundary line between the British colonies and Indigenous nations. The letter explains that the boundary should not extend further south than the Conohway (Kanawha) River, since a previous treaty marked that region as Cherokee land. This southern limit became a source of conflict at the negotiations and between Johnson and British government officials.