S

Red River and Northwest Rebellions

By Isaac Mordechai RenertSocial Studies 10

Why Did The Red River Rebellion Happen?

The Canada Pacific Railway and road-building (Morton, 101).

Selling Rupert’s Land to the Canadian Government (Morton, 100).

Surveyors in Manitoba (Brown, 11).

Lack of Minority Rights.

Government reply to Metis discontentedness.

English Protestant and French Catholic cultural conflict (Morton, 101).

Metis committee conquered Fort Garry.

Timeline of the Red River Rebellion

1868 – Canada purchased Rupert’s Land from HBC, Metis people were not happy because they did not get any input in this matter. (Morton, 101).

1869 – Surveyors were sent by the Canadian Government and were stopped by Louis Riel who told them to leave (Unboring Learning, 2012).

1869, October – The Metis National Committee formed and captured Fort Garry (Morton, 101).

1869, December – The Metis Provisional Government was formed (Morton, 102).

1870 - Donald Smith, an HBC commissioner in Montreal got Riel to state their demands, choose delegates, and send them to Ottawa (Morton, 102).

1870, March – Thomas Scott is executed and he is used as an example to show that the Metis’ mean business (Flanagan, 9).

Red River Timeline (continued)

1875-1880 – Louis Riel is exiled due to his part in the murder of Thomas Scott (Flanagan, 11).

1870, July - Red River delegates return triumphant from Ottawa with the Manitoba Act, which meant the colony would become a province (Morton, 104).

Metis List of Rights

Metis List of Rights Adopted February 3, 1870

1. Duties shall continue as at the present (except for liquors) for three years until further notice.

2. There shall be no direct taxation in the Northwest as long as it remains a territory, except if imposed by local legislature.

3. This territory shall remain in the Dominion of Canada. As long as this is true, all military, civil and other public expenses shall be covered by the Dominion of Canada.

4. The burden of public expense in this territory will be looked after by Canada. The country will be governed by a Lieutenant-Governor from Canada, and a Legislature, and the three members will be heads of departments in government, who will be nominated by the Governor General of Canada.

5. After the ending of this period, this territory will be governed as Ontario and Quebec are, with a Ministry and a Legislature led by the people and a Lieutenant-Governor, which is appointed by the Governor General

6. There shall be no interference by the Dominion of Canada in this territory’s actions and it shall have as many rights and responsibilities as the other provinces of Canada.

7. While the Northwest remains a territory, the Legislature has a right to pass all local laws to the territory, over the veto of the Lieutenant-Governor by a two-third vote.

8. There shall be laws about buying and selling goods, including houses.

9. The amount of $25,000 a year will be allocated for schools, roads and bridges, even though the Northwest is a territory.

10. Building expenses will be covered by the Dominion Treasury.

Metis List of Rights (cont.)

11. There shall be guaranteed, uninterrupted steam communication to Lake Superior sometime in the next five years. Also, the establishment by rail of a connection with the American railway as soon as it reaches the international line.

12. The military of this country shall be composed of natives of the nation who have lived here for 4 or more years. 13. The English and French languages shall be spoken in the Legislature and Courts. All public documents and acts of

the Legislature shall be published in both languages. 14. The Judge of the Supreme Court shall speak both French and English. 15. That treaties be concluded between the Dominion and the several Indian tribes of the country as soon as possible. 16. That, until the population of the country entitles us to more, we have three representatives in the Canadian

Parliament, one in the Senate, and two in the Legislative Assembly. 17. All properties, rights and privileges owned by the Northwest shall be respected, and that the recognition and

arrangement of local customs, usages, and privileges be made under the control of the local Legislature. 18. The local Legislature of this territory should have full control of all the lands inside a circumference using upper

Fort Garry as a center. The radius of this circumference will be the distance between the American line and Fort Garry. 19. Every man in this country (except uncivilized and unsettled Indians) that is 21 years old or older, and any British

individual, a stranger to this country who has lived here for at least 3 years and is a householder, shall have a right to vote at the election of a member to serve in the Legislature of the country. In the Dominion Parliament and any other foreign individual, who has lived in the country for at least the same amount of time, and is a householder, shall have the same right to vote, under the condition of his taking the oath of allegiance, this document only being used by the Legislature.

20. The Northwest territory will never be held liable for any portion of the L- 300,000 paid to the Hudson's Bay Company or for any portion of the public debt of Canada, as it stands at the time of entering the confederation.

Source: Canada History, 2012

Louis Riel’s exile

After the death of George Cartier, Riel decided to run for a seat in the House of Commons and won. Due to the fact that Riel had a warrant for his arrest in Ontario, he never was able to take his seat, even though he was re-elected twice (Flanagan, 10).

During this time, Riel became increasingly religious, nationalistic, and allies with Ignace Bourget, the Bishop of Montreal (Flanagan, 10).

In early 1875, Mackenzie broke this stalemate by voting on Riel’s expulsion and exile from Canada for 5 years (Flanagan, 11).

During exile, friends of Riel became worried about his mental state and committed him to the Asylum of Longue Pointe (Flanagan, 11).

Worried about a scandal, Riel’s relatives relocated him to the asylum at Beauport, where he declared himself “The Prophet of the New World” and insisting that he was not, in fact, a madman (Flanagan, 11-12)

Why Did The Northwest Rebellion Happen?

In January 1878, Riel was discharged from Beauport asylum, cured “more or less” according to his doctor (Flanagan, 14).

The Canadian government sent surveyors, who divided the land unfairly according to the Metis (Flanagan, 16).

In June 1884, a delegation of Metis, led by Gabriel Dumont arrived at the St. Laurent settlement to discuss grievances about this unfair land system and mistreatment of Aboriginals (Flanagan, 16).

Northwest Rebellion Timeline

1885, March – Riel returned from exile and seized power (Morton, 122-123).

At Duck Lake, Louis hoped to capture police as hostages, but allowed the survivors to return home (Morton, 123).

CPR brought in 5000 militia, volunteers and regulars to “negotiate” with the Metis, even though their real plan was to use the unfinished railway tracks to bring in weapons and soldiers (Morton, 123).

1885, May 12 – Middleton captured Batoche and Riel surrendered (Morton, 123).

Trial and Execution of Louis Riel

After the conflicts at Fish Creek, Batoche, and Cut Knife, Riel surrendered himself and was put on trial from July - August 1885 for treason, for which the only punishment was death (Flanagan, 20).

The strategy of Riel’s lawyers was to argue that he was not guilty for “reasons of insanity,” however, whenever he got the chance, Riel defended his sanity, his actions, and his morals (Flanagan, 20).

The jury obviously did not believe Riel nor his consul, so they quickly deliberated and sentenced Riel to hang on the early morning of November 16, 1885 (Flanagan, 21).

Bibliography

Arrival at St. Laurent. (n.d.). Virtual Museum. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/histoires_de_chez_nous-community_memories/CommunityMemories2/AAXS/0001/image/storycard/AAXS00010002.jpg

Battle at Batoche. (n.d.). Manitoba Historic Sites. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/01/threeviewsofriel6.jpg Battle of Duck Lake. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Battle_of_Duck_Lake.jpg/300px-

Battle_of_Duck_Lake.jpg Beauport Asylum. (n.d.). Canadian Mysteries. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/gagnon/images/site/2883_2.jpg Brown, Chester. (1999) Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography. Montreal, QB: Drawn and Quarterly Publications. Dominion Surveyors. (n.d.). Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/media/dominion-land-surveyors-3535.jpg Duck Lake. (n.d.). First Peoples of Canada. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from firstpeoplesofcanada.com/images/firstnations/fp_metis/ducklake_ci_w.jpg Execution of Thomas Scott. (n.d.). Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/media/execution-of-thomas-scott-7065.jpg Flanagan, Thomas. (1992) The Canadian Historical Association Historical Booklet: Louis Riel (No. 50). Retrieved from http

://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/008004/f2/H-50_en.pdf (n.d.). Government of Manitoba. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.gov.mb.ca/chc/louis_riel/images/fort_garry_1875.jpg Hanging of Louis Riel. (n.d.). The Final Act. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from metis.tripod.com/Thefinalact.html Louis_Riel.jpg/240px-Louis_Riel.jpg Louis Riel. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Fort Garry. Metis Bill of Rights 1870. (n.d.). Canada History. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/thewest/metisbillrights.html Metis Provisional Government. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/ProvisionalMetisGovernment.jpg/300px-ProvisionalMetisGovernment.jpg Morton, Desmond. (1937) A Short History of Canada, 6th edition. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Progress of CPR. (n.d.). Collections Canada. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ap/a/a06657 Red River Map. (n.d.). PBS. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from www.pbs.org/empireofthebay/maps/red_river_big.jpg Trial of Louis Riel. (n.d.). Collections Canada. Retrieved November 30, 2012, from data2.archives.ca/ap/c/c001877.jpg Unboring Learning. (2012, February 23). Red River Rebellion. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C1YTBzOOfQ

Final Comment

The Red River and Northwest Rebellions were important events in Canadian history because both influenced future government decisions that had to do with human rights and was also revolutionary for

Metis rights years later.

THE END