CHALLENGES TO THE NEW DOMINION 1867-

1905THE NATIONAL POLICY 1878-1896

Lady Aberdeen Lady Aberdeen was also known as Ishbel Maria Majoribanks. Lady Aberdeen was raised in Scotland, 1877; she was the countess of Aberdeen. She married lord Aberdeen (governor general of Canada) she devoted her life to promoting social causes and served for years as the president of international council of women. She helped establish the Victorian order of nurses. Lady Aberdeen died in Scotland in 1939.

National council of women:

The national council of women was established by Lady Aberdeen in 1893. The membership

grew to 250,000 and it was fought for the rights of women and children in Canadian society for over a century.

Victorian order of nurses:The Victorian order of nurses was formed by Lady Aberdeen in 1897. The purpose of the Victorian order of nurses was to provide the services of visiting nurses to rustic areas without hospitals and medical facilities.

Changing Roles for Women In the years of 1800’s women that were married had to stay home for serving and working for their families and always being a full time mother and wife. Middle class and upper class women often gave their time to church and charity work, also only women that were not married were likely to work outside of their homes.

In time before electricity women spent long hard hours preparing food, raising children, making and mending clothing and doing laundry.

This is a picture of a married women’s job at home which is taking care of the home and raising children also while women working at home were unpaid there work was mandatory.

The majority of women in paid employment worked in domestic service, other working women worked in factories and mills. In the past, working in a factory was a better job than being a servant in someone’s house, because women got more independent freedom if they worked in a factory, rather than being demanded to do something every day.

The Canadian Pacfic Railway◦ The railway was needed for political necessity for Canada.◦ For confederation to be successful a railway was needed◦ Canadian politicians wanted Canada to not have to travel through America to transport things, a railway

would help unify Canada.◦ The north west territories were sparsely populated , the CPR would open up area for Canadian and

European settlers.◦ The main concern was that the Americans would north, and make the north-west territories part of the

united states.◦ A lot of gold seekers had moved from California Goldfields to into the colony of British Colombia. The were

scared that Pacific Northwest would take over California and Oregon◦ American expansion was feared of because of the united states policy about manifest destiny ◦ the trade was cancelled because of the Reciprocity treaty.◦ The cost to make the railway was $25 000 000, the building materials were tax-free. The company had to go

back to the government to get money to continue to build the railway.

Chinese Navviees The Chinese navvies were people involved in the Canadian pacific railway construction. There were 3000 Chinese in British Columbia in 1878. The first Chinese men hired had already worked on railways in California, and by 1885 there were 15,000 Chinese workers employed on the railway. the Chinese navvies earned $1.00 per day, which was less than the $1.50 per day offered to other workers. The workers had to pay for clothing, tools, food, shelter and taxes. When the railway was completed many of the workers could not afford to return to china, so about 5000 Chinese workers stayed in Canada. Also work on the railway was hard and dangerous at least 600 people died during the construction, some died do to dynamite explosions and others died from scurvy and other diseases.

Leaders involved in the railway building

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne 1843- 1915- General Manager 1882- 1888

Known for his amazing energy

Sir Donald Smith 1820-1914- Formed a company with George Stephan

Came to Canada from Scotland at the age of 18

Sir George Stephan 1829- 1921- First president of CPR 1880-1921

Cousin of Donald smith

Poundmaker Poundmaker was the adopted son of Chief Crowfoot. Poundmaker was also a Cree chief. Poundmaker got his name from being extremely good at leading buffalos into ‘pounds’ or small closed off spaces where they were then killed. Poundmakers people were having trouble adjusting to the farming life after hunting all their lives. In addition to the difficult transition form hunting to farming, the people were confined to a small reserve with sand soil that was terrible for planting and growing crops. Because of this Poundmakers people did not have enough to eat, and were getting frustrated that the government refused to listen to them. This frustration was expressed in violence after the government refused to speak with the Cree delegation, this later lead to the battle of Cut Knife Hill. Poundmaker was sentenced to three years in prison after the North-West resistance. However he was let out several months after being in prison. He died while visiting his father Chief Crowfoot. In 1967 his body was brought back to the reserve and buried on the hill where the battle of Cut Knife Hill took place.

Chief Big Bear Chief Big Bear was a Cree leader who was unhappy with the way the federal government was treating the First Nations People. He thought that the threats of a resistance would make the government take notice, and change the way they treated his people. Big bear wanted to resist peacefully, and avoid confrontation. Unfortunately his followers thought otherwise. As Cree leader he took the consequences his follower’s actions. He was sentenced to three years of prison for his role in the North-West resistance. He died shortly after his release from prison.

Major-General Frederick Middleton, 1825-1898

Major-General Frederick Middleton, 1825-1898

Major-General Frederick Middleton was a British infantry officer, someone who directs, leads, and train infantry army. He served in Africa, India, and New Zealand. In 1884 Middleton came to Canada and was appointed to be in charge of the Canadian Militia. Middleton managed his soldiers in the battles of Batoche, and Fish Creek. Certain historian believe that when Middleton’s troops stormed the Metis rifle pit in the Battle of Batoche that it was not done under his orders. For his role in the North-West resistance Middleton received medal and $20,000.

Gabriel Dumont Gabriel Dumont, 1837-1906 Gabriel Dumont was an excellent rider and marksman. He was a Metis leader, as well as one of the Most Respected men in the North West. Dumont had come to the North-West in 1872 from Manitoba. He was natural leader, and spoke French along with six different First Nations languages. He was very good at strategizing military plans, and often argued with Riel out military plans. Dumont believed in the Hit-and-run attack, he thought that was the only way their small force could defeat such larger Canadian force. After the North-West resistance Dumont fled to United States. He returned to Batoche after an official had granted him amnesty for his role in the resistance.

The North-West Resistance 1885 Provisional Government at Batoche

Provisional Government at Batoche- In 1885 Riel set up a provisional government. Gabriel Dumont was the military leader. The settlers, English speaking Metis, and the Saskatchewan River did not join because they were angry and the Canadians and didn’t want to join a violent act. Only the French speaking Metis joined the armed resistance

Duck Lake he North-West resistance began on March 26 1885. In the town of Duck Lake. Gabriel Dumont attacked superintendent Crozier. 12 of Croziers men were killed, 11 were wounded, and 5 Metis were killed.

Battleford At the end of March chief Poundmaker travelled to Battleford to discuss getting more food for his people. When the people heard that Poundmaker was coming they fled to safety. When Poundmaker arrived the town was deserted and the government agent refused to talk to him. Poundmaker became angry and broke the windows and took supplies.

Frog Lake On April 2 chief Big Bear’s war chiefs killed nine people including the government agent Thomas Quinn

MacDonald Sends Troops When Prime Minister Macdonald heard about the armed rebellion, he ordered 8000 soldiers and volunteers to travel west on Canadian Pacific Railway. In Charge of the Battle operations was, Major-General Frederick Middleton, the Commander of the Canadian Militia. He divided his soldiers into three groups. Middleton’s group set out for the Metis headquarters at Batoche. Another group led by Colonel William Dillon Otter set out for Battleford, hoping to find Poundmaker. The third group led by Major-General Strange set out after Chief Big Bear and his men.

During the North-West Resistance, Riel was guided by his religious beliefs. Dumont wanted to use hit-and-run attacks to successfully defend Batoche. However Riel disagreed, he insisted that he was ordered by god through visions to wait until Batoche was attacked and then they could defend it.

Fish Creek On April 24 at Fish Creek, Gabriel Dumont’s men attacked Middleton’s column, using the hit-and-run method.

The Battle at Batoche The battle at Batoche lasted for four days, from May 9 to May 12. There 300 Metis and First Nations that participated in this battle. They dug rifle pits, and fired at Middleton’s Troops. By the last day of the battle the Metis and First Nations were out of ammunition. They started firing stones and nails from their rifles. Middleton’s troops invaded the rifle pits and the battle was over. There were over 25 dead from both sides

Cut KnifeHill The Battle of Cut Knife Hill occurred on May 2nd. Colonel Otter men located Chief Poundmaker and about 200 followers. Otter had planned to make a surprise attack however, word of the attack spread and the Cree were ready for them. The Cree managed to drive Otter and his men off. Poundmaker’s man had every chance to kill Otter, and his men but Poundmaker seized them and allowed the soldiers to go back to the battlefield. He saw no honor in killing an enemy that had already been defeated. Both riel and Durmont managed to escape. Riel surrendered after a few days, but Durmont fled to the United States. Poundmaker decided to travel to Batoche to help the metis with the battle. On the way there he heard of their defeat, and realized there was no point in continuing resistance. Poundmaker surrendered to Middleton on May 26th.

Frenchman Butte On May 28th Chief Big Bear and his men fought with General Strange’s soldiers at Frenchman’s Butte. Strange’s soldiers withdrew at the end of the day, with the plan continue battle the next day. Big bear and his men were low on ammunition, and saw this as the perfect opportunity to escape. They took advantage of the stillness in action and escaped while they still had the chance. General Strange, and General Middleton both made attempts to find Chief Big bear, but were unsuccessful. The battle was a victory for the Cree, although a small one. It bought them time to escape from Strange, but the rebellion was hopeless. On July 2nd Chief Big Bear surrendered, accompanied only by his son. His followers had either surrender or gone somewhere else. Big bear’s surrender marked the end of the 99-day North-West Resistance.