According to the Proclamation of 1763 at the end of the French and Indian War,

The Proclamation of 1763 barred colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains and reserved that territory for Indigenous peoples. The British government issued it after the French and Indian War partly to limit conflicts between colonists and Indigenous nations. Therefore, the correct choice is “British officials reserved the land west of the Appalachian Mountains for Indigenous peoples.”

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