Why did Virginia businessmen secure land grants in the Ohio River Valley?

Virginia "businessmen" secured land grants in massive amounts in the Ohio Valley before the French and Indian War. They did so because they knew the lands would be very valuable. The Ohio Valley was highly fertile, and potential settlers in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere longed to settle there. So many Virginia planters and politicians did everything they could to secure land grants there. Many invested in the Ohio Company, which received a vast grant of...

Virginia "businessmen" secured land grants in massive amounts in the Ohio Valley before the French and Indian War. They did so because they knew the lands would be very valuable. The Ohio Valley was highly fertile, and potential settlers in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere longed to settle there. So many Virginia planters and politicians did everything they could to secure land grants there. Many invested in the Ohio Company, which received a vast grant of land in the region in the early 1750s. They were speculating that the lands would rise in value once the British gained control of the region (which was disputed between the British Empire and France). Many of the Native peoples in the region had other ideas, however, and they rose up in a series of rebellions during and immediately after the war. These rebellions made the British Crown reconsider their policy in the Ohio Valley, because frequent Indian attacks made maintaining a military presence there a necessity. After the war, this was an expense the British did not want to bear. So King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 forbidding settlement west of the Appalachians and basically refusing to renew the grant issued several years before. For the wealthy Virginians who had speculated in lands there, this meant that they could not secure clear title to their lands. This angered many of these men, many of whom would become leaders of the Revolution in Virginia.