Red River Rebellion

The Red River Rebellion of 1869 – 1870 is the term most often used to describe the actions of a provisional government established by Métis leader Louis Riel in 1869 at the Red River Settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Related Topics:
1869 - 1870 - Provisional government - Métis - Louis Riel - Red River Settlement - Canadian province - Manitoba

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The Rebellion was the first crisis the new government faced following Canadian Confederation in 1867. The Canadian government bought Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869 and appointed an English-speaking governor, William McDougall, who was opposed by the French-speaking inhabitants of the settlement. McDougall sent out surveyors before the land was officially transferred to Canada and had them arrange the land according to the square township system used in Ontario. The Métis, led by Riel, prevented McDougall from entering the territory. After McDougall declared that the Hudson's Bay Company was no longer in control of the territory and that Canada had asked for the transfer of sovereignty to be postponed, the Métis created a provisional government. Riel undertook to negotiate directly with the Canadian government to establish Assiniboia as a province.

Related Topics:
New government - Canadian Confederation - 1867 - Canadian government - Rupert's Land - 1869 - English - William McDougall - French - Surveyor - Township - Ontario

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Meanwhile, Riel's men had arrested members of a pro-Canadian faction that had resisted the provisional government, including an Orangeman named Thomas Scott. Scott was put on trial and executed by firing squad for offences usually considered non-capital. Canada and the provisional government soon negotiated an agreement. In 1870, the Manitoba Act was passed, allowing the Red River settlement to enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba. The Act also incorporated some of Riel's demands, such as separate French schools for Métis children and protection of Catholicism.

Related Topics:
Orangeman - Thomas Scott - Trial - Executed - Firing squad - Capital - 1870 - Manitoba Act - Confederation - Separate - Catholicism

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After the agreement was settled, Canada sent a military expedition, now known as the Wolseley Expedition (or Red River Expedition), consisting of Canadian Militia and British regular soldiers led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley to Manitoba to enforce federal authority. As the expedition headed west, outrage grew in Ontario over Scott's execution, and many Ontarians demanded that Wolseley's expedition be used to arrest Riel and suppress what they considered to be rebellion. Although Riel fled before the expedition reached Fort Garry, the arrival of the expedition marked the end of the Rebellion.

Related Topics:
Military - Expedition - Wolseley Expedition - Militia - Garnet Wolseley

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