The British and the French both had pretty good slices of North America prior to the French and Indian War (aka The Seven Years War). The Brits and colonists prevailed and took a lot of territory.
Many Brits wanted to make a quick move to get settlers in the newly acquired regions to make sure they didn’t lose a grip on it.
In 1763, a pamphlet was published with a heck of a name: The Expediency of Securing Our American Colonies by Settling the Country Adjoining the River Mississippi, and the Country Upon the Ohio, Considered. It called for the establishment of a colony that would be called Charlotina and would have covered all the land that makes up Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois plus parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota.
There was also a suggestion to send debtors in prison from Britain and Ireland to populate the area. The idea was to provide a buffer for defense for the eastern part of America as well as take advantage of the area’s natural resources.
The idea never got serious traction and Britain took the opposite path — they restrained settlement to placate the native tribes with the Proclamation Line of 1763. This proved to be another restraint the mother country put on the colonists who wanted to expand, another stick on the fire of eventual revolution.
Sources:
Klotnik, George. “Charlotina” Journal of the American Revolution
Trinklein, Michael J. Lost States