Tests Returned as well as Westward Expansion and the Rebellions on the Prairies

Over the past number of days, we have gone over the blog test (Period 2 - Period 4 still has two people who need to write) and spent time reading and making notes from pages 280-286, which details the conditions leading to the Red River and North West rebellions. You were given time to read the material, make notes and finally work together in small groups in order to establish the following:

What was the background to the rebellions?

What happened in the rebellions?

Below I have provided you with a summary of that discussion which you should be familiar with.

Background to the Rebellions:

• the decline of the fur trade prompted the Hudson's Bay Company to sell Rupert's Land (all the land draining into Hudson Bay)


• fear of American expansion led to Canada's desire to purchase Rupert's Land (the Gold Rush, the American Civil War, the purchase of Alaska, an American consul being dispatched to the Red River area and Manifest Destiny as flash points)


• December 1, 1869 - HBC got 300 000 English Pounds and got to keep thousands of hectares of land around its trading posts as well as 1/20Th of all the land in the territory


• the deal made Canada 6 times larger than its original size


• the Canadian government wasted no time in trying to open the new territory for settlement and sent government surveyors to divide up the land


• the act of surveying convinced the Metis that their way of life was now clearly under attack

The Red River Rebellion

• October 11, 1869 - Louis Riel, secretary of the Red River council personally stepped in front of a surveyor and with a small band of Metis refused to let the survey continue - the government, according to Riel was trespassing


• November 2, 1869 another Metis group stopped the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor, William McDougall from entering the territory at Pembina and Louis Riel sent forth the message that McDougall required the permission of the National Committee of the Metis to enter


• Riel took Fort Garry, established a Provisional Government with himself as President, and then issued a declaration of Metis rights which he expected to use as a way to start negotiations with the Canadian government that would lead to provincial status for Manitoba


• negotiations actually worked and a deal was struck which included a representative assembly


• However, in February of 1870, John Schultz organized 600 settlers under the Canadian Party to attack Fort Garry to free 48 members of Schultz's guard who had been captured by Riel's men on December 7


• Riel saw the attack as defiant of his authority and intolerable and decided to make an example of one of the men. This lead to the trial of Ontario Orangeman, Thomas Scott, who was tried for insubordination by an all-Metis jury and was executed by firing squad.


• the execution of Scott raised tensions and split the country - the French identified with Riel as a man who was fighting for the survival of his people - and his Catholic faith


• the English Protestants in Ontario saw themselves threatened by Riel and viewed him as a lawbreaking traitor


• an agreement was on May 12, 1870, and Manitoba officially came into being on July 15 of that same year


• most of Riel's terms were accepted and as a result, Manitoba was constitutionally bilingual, bi cultural and bi-educational


• Prime Minster Macdonald sent troops to Manitoba to discourage more Metis uprisings, satisfy English Canada and as a show of force to any Americans who might be thinking about taking Canada by force


• Riel left for the United States and the Metis found that the buffalo were disappearing, settlers were spreading out, the coming of the railway and the enforcement of Canadian property law left precious little space for the practice of Metis traditions and their way of life


• as a consequence, the Metis moved west with the retreating buffalo to Saskatchewan

North West Rebellion

• in an effort to avoid bloodshed, the Canadian government signed a series of treaties with Aboriginal Peoples between 1871 and 1877 - this purchased property largely was seen as a gateway for extending the railway


• the treaties traded land for cash, as well as annual payments, school services, and emergency relief supplies - these terms were not always carried through on by the government


• while Aboriginals were wary of the treaties and hesitant to sign them, they eventually gave in because their living conditions had become quite dire


• this led Aboriginals to seek out Louis Riel's help again, as he had been the only person who could negotiate an agreement that protected their rights


• Riel took the same steps in Saskatchewan that he had taken in Manitoba


• he drafted a bill of rights and demanded settlement


• however, this time there was no settlement


• Riel's past actions and the execution of Thomas Scott left him as a villain in the eyes of English Canadians


• Macdonald used the new railroad to send troops to Saskatchewan quickly


• after four days of fighting and outnumbered three to one, the Metis surrendered


• Riel was charged with high treason, tried, found guilty and executed


• the all white jury actually recommended mercy, but the judge sentenced Riel to execution anyways


• Macdonald could have pardoned Riel but didn't, as he thought that it would only anger the English Canadians again and an election was near


• Macdonald, however, failed to anticipate how badly this decision would hurt him and his Conservative party with French Canadians


• French Canadians would turn to the Liberals and Wilfred Laurier