Changes: The Red River Settlement between 1860- 1870

1
Changes The Red River Settlement between 1860-
1870

• SS 10
• NAULT
• Horizons text
• Pages 155- 162

2
Lots of changes in the 1860s

• Many people immigrated to the Northwest
• Canada became a dominion (a country that rules
  itself)
• The HBC started to decline
• Many Canadians moved West to find available farm
  land

3
The Orange Order

• Many of the new Canadian settlers were
  Protestants and members of the Orange Order
• A violently anti- French, anti- Catholic movement
• They were prejudiced against the Metis
  (surprise!) because they were French, Catholic,
  and of mixed heritage

4
The Orange Order
Dr. John Schultz

• Although they were small in number, the presence
  of the Protestants increased tensions in the Red
  River a lot.
• One of the first immigrants was Dr. John Schultz,
  he opened a general store, took over the
  newspaper The NorWester
• By the end of the 1860s he had organized a small
  group called the Canadian Party which hoped to
  gain control of the settlement.

5
Economic problems

• Economic problems in the Red River contributed to
  rising tensions
• Crop failures
• Decrease in bison
• Less investment by the HBC

6
Land ownership issues

• Added to this was the fact that
• The Metis never made legal claim to their
  territory although they had farmed it for years
• According to HBC policy, all HBC employees were
  entitled to their farmland if they lived on it
  for 3 years
• PROBLEM The Metis believed that if a person
  cleared the land and farmed it, they had the
  right to it.

7
Canada Purchases Ruperts Land

• John A Macdonald and DArcy McGee wanted to
  create a country stretching from sea to sea
• The HBC wanted to sell Ruperts Land because the
  fur trade was declining and they were finding it
  difficult to maintain control over such a large
  territory

8
The negotiations begin

• The HBC and the Canadian government began
  negotiations to transfer control of Ruperts Land
• No one bothered to consult the people who lived
  in the Red River Settlement
• They reached an agreement in November 1869-
  Ruperts Land joined the North-Western Territory
  and the entire area was renamed The North- West
  Territories (see pg 157)

9
The New Canada

• After this deal, Canada doubled in size.
• The HBC received 1.5 million from the
  government, and 2.8 million hectares of prairie
  farmland
• Before the deal was finalized, land surveyors
  arrived in the Red River settlement and started
  laying out grids for the townships

10
Problems brewing

• The land surveyors assumed that the people who
  lived on the land did NOT own it and had no right
  to claim it
• THAT SAME YEAR,
• LOUIS RIEL RETURNED
• TO THE RED RIVER

11
Louis Riel

• Born in 1844, he was the son of Louis Riel Sr.
  who was the Metis leader for many years.
• He was a literate, well- educated lawyer
• He was fluent in both English and French
• He was an excellent speaker
• He was only 24 years old when he returned to the
  Red River
• (Film Louis Riel
• The Red River Rebellion)

12
The Red River Rebellion

• In 1869, the tensions in the red River were very
  high
• Settlers were angry at the HBC and at the land
  surveyors
• Riel formed the Metis National Committee to fight
  for Metis rights

13
Tensions rise

• That summer, the Metis confronted the surveyors
  and told them to go back to Ottawa because they
  intended to govern themselves
• Then, several Metis (under Riels command) seized
  Fort Garry and stole the munitions
• THE RED RIVER REBELLION HAD BEGUN!

14
Goal of the Rebellion

• Riel and supporters simply wanted to ensure that
  the people of Red River would retain their rights
  and traditions when it came under Canadian
  government rule.
• They did not want to rebel against Canada

15
The Provisional Government

• Riel set up a Provisional govt
• They wanted the Red River Settlement to join
  Canada as its own province- Manitoba

Riels Provisional Government
16
The Provisional Government

• Why did Riel want a new province?
• - He feared that if McDougall took charge of the
  area, the Metis would be ignored and would lose
  their rights

17
Metis List of Rights

• (see page 159)
• What do you think of these rights?
• Are they fair?

18
Civil War?

• Riel feared that a civil war would begin because
  the Canadian Party was armed and ready to attack
  the Metis
• To stop this from happening
• Riel led a party of armed Metis to Schulzs home
  (headquarters of Canadian Party)
• They took 48 of Schulzs followers to Fort Garry

19
Riel and Macdonald

• After this, Riel declared that he was ready to
  negotiate with the Canadian government
• Macdonald refused to recognize Riel and would not
  negotiate with him
• THE METIS DID NOT GIVE UP!

20
Escape from Fort Garry

• Schultz escaped Fort Garry and plotted to free
  the other prisoners
• However, the Metis arrested them again shortly
  after they escaped
• One of the prisoners was a member of the Canadian
  Party named
• Thomas Scott

21
Thomas Scott

• Scott was a particularly out spoken and
  belligerent member of the Canadian Party
• He was strongly anti- Metis and was verbally and
  physically abusive to the guards in jail
• He also threatened Louis Riels life

22
Thomas Scott

• In response to his behaviour, Riel and his
  provisional government decided to execute him in
  March
• Although all six members of the firing squad took
  aim together, they did not kill Scott immediately
• The squad director had to shoot him again to kill
  him

23
OUTRAGE!

• Schultz and the Orange Order made Thomas Scott
  into a Protestant martyr who had been cruelly
  murdered by the Metis
• Cries for justice and retaliation soon reached
  the government officials in Ottawa
• (Looking for bias in Thomas Scott articles)

24
A Compromise

• In April, Macdonald finally offered a compromise
  to the Metis
• He did not allow provincial control of public
  lands
• BUT
• He did give the Metis 200 000 hectares of land to
  recognize their aboriginal title

25
Manitoba becomes a province

• On May 2nd,
• legislation
• confirmed that
• Manitoba would
• be included into Canada

26
Riel flees into exile

• When government troops arrived in the Red River
  in August,
• RIEL WAS GONE
• He (wisely) had fled to the USA
• All of the member of the provisional government
  were granted Amnesty- except Riel-
• HE WAS BANISHED FROM CANADA FOR 5 YEARS

27
Riel in Exile

• Riel would spend the next 15 years in exile in
  the United States
• HOWEVER,
• He would later return to
• take up a new cause