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.

Creation of Manitoba

Upon receiving news of the unrest, bishop Taché was recalled from Rome. He arrived back in the colony on March 8, whereupon he conveyed to Riel his mistaken impression that the December amnesty would apply to both Riel and Lépine. On March 15 he read to the elected assembly a telegram from Joseph Howe indicating that the government found the demands in the list of rights to be "in the main satisfactory". Following the preparation of a final list of rights that included new demands such as a general amnesty for all members of the provisional government and provisions for separate francophone schools, delegates Abbé Joseph-Noël Ritchot, Judge John Black and Alfred Henry Scott departed for Ottawa on March 23 and 24.

Related Topics:
Rome - March 8 - March 15 - Joseph Howe - Joseph-Noël Ritchot - John Black - Alfred Henry Scott - March 23 - 24

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Shortly after this, Mair and Schultz arrived in Toronto, Ontario and with the assistance of George Taylor Denison, immediately set about inflaming anti-Métis and anti-Catholic sentiment over the execution of Scott in the editorial pages of the Ontario press. Nevertheless, Macdonald had decided before the provisional government was established that Canada must negotiate with the Métis. Although the delegates were arrested following their arrival in Ottawa on April 11 on charges of abetting murder, they were quickly released. They soon entered into direct talks with Macdonald and Cartier, wherein Ritchot emerged as an effective negotiator; an agreement enshrining many of the demands in the list of rights was soon reached. This formed the basis for the Manitoba Act of May 12, 1870, which formally admitted Manitoba into the Canadian confederation. Significantly however, Ritchot could not secure a clarification of the Governor General's amnesty — anger over Scott's execution was growing rapidly in Ontario, and any such guarantee was politically inexpedient. The delegates returned to Manitoba with only a promise of a forthcoming amnesty.

Related Topics:
Toronto, Ontario - George Taylor Denison - Ottawa - April 11 - Manitoba Act - May 12 - Manitoba - Canadian confederation

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