Instead, the British imposed the Proclamation of 1763, which was designed to keep the American settlers east of the Appalachian Mountains and physically separate from the main Indian settlements. The Proclamation left the West under British control but alienated the eastern colonies, which had legal rights to most of the land involved. Furthermore, the British colonial governors had awarded large tracts of land in lieu of salary to soldiers who fought on behalf of the British , such as Colonel George Washington, who fought hard to make sure that he and the Virginia veterans received their promised rewards.[4] There was great legal confusion for the next decade.[5]