A movement for self-determination in 186970 by the resident Métis population of Red River Colony, Canada (now Manitoba), which broke out when control over trading rights passed from the Hudson Bay Company to the Dominion of Canada. Led by Louis Riel, the Métis and anglophone mixed-bloods established a provisional government (1870). Armed conflict followed, and a leader of a failed Anglo-Protestant counter-rising, Thomas Scott, was executed by the Métis. Although Canada agreed to the terms of the rebels (in the Manitoba Act, 1870), Orange opinion in Ontario was so outraged by the execution of Scott that Riel was obliged to flee the country.
The Red River Rebellion or "Red River Resistance" are the names given to the events surrounding 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.
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. 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.
Meanwhile, Riel's men had arrested members of a pro-Canadian faction that had resisted the provisional government, including an Orangeman named Thomas Scott. The Act also incorporated some of Riel's demands, such as separate French schools for Métis children and protection of Catholicism.
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.
Background
The Red River Rebellion was virually insignificant to the overall history of Canada;
In anticipation of the transfer, the minister of public works, William McDougall, who along with George-Étienne Cartier had been instrumental in securing Rupert's Land for Canada, ordered a survey party to the Red River Settlement.
Riel emerges as a leader
The fears of the Métis were exacerbated when the Canadian government appointed the notoriously anti-French McDougall as the lieutenant governor-designate on 28 September 1869, in anticipation of a formal transfer to take effect on December 1. It was at this time that the educated Riel began to emerge as a leader, beginning with his denunciation of the survey in a speech delivered in late August from the steps of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral. On October 11, 1869, the work of the survey was disrupted by a group of Métis including Riel. On October 16 this group organised itself as the "Métis National Committee", with Riel as secretary, John Bruce as president and two representatives from each parish, to represent Métis interests.
At this time, the Hudson's Bay Company's Council of Assiniboia still asserted authority over the area, and on October 25, Riel was summoned before them to explain the actions of the Committee. Riel declared that any attempt by McDougall to enter would be blocked unless the Canadians had first negotiated terms with the Métis and with the general population of the settlement.
On November 2, Métis under the command of Ambroise-Dydime Lépine turned back McDougall's party near the American border, forcing them to retreat to Pembina, North Dakota. The number of Riel's followers had grown rapidly, and on that same day a group of up to 400 Métis led by Riel seized Fort Garry without bloodshed.
Considerable differences remained at the Red River Settlement over how to negotiate with Canada, and in particular, no consensus had been reached between the French and English speaking inhabitants. In a conciliatory gesture, Riel on November 6 asked the anglophones to select delegates from each of their parishes to attend a convention alongside the Métis representatives. The first such meeting resulted in few accomplishments, and some of the anglophone delegates expressed displeasure at Riel's treatment of McDougall.
On November 16, the Council of Assiniboia made a final attempt to assert its authority when Governor Mactavish issued a proclamation demanding that the Métis lay down their arms. This prompted Riel on November 23 to propose the formation of a provisional government to enter direct negotiations with Canada, but this was not accepted by the anglophone delegates, who requested an adjournment to discuss matters.
On December 1, McDougall proclaimed that the Hudson's Bay Company was no longer in control of Rupert's Land, and that he was the new lieutenant-governor. This proclamation was to later prove problematic, as it effectively ended the authority of the Council, while failing to establish Canadian authority — unbeknownst to McDougall, the transfer had been postponed once news of the unrest reached Ottawa. On the same day, Riel presented to the convention a list of fourteen rights that were demanded as a condition of union.
Even while much of the settlement was coming to accept the Métis point of view, resistance was building among a passionately pro-Canadian minority, loosely organised as the Canadian Party, led by Dr. John Christian Schultz and Charles Mair, and supported by Colonel Dennis, and the more reticent Major Charles Boulton. The situation escalated when McDougall attempted to assert his authority by appointing Dennis to raise a contingent of armed men, which were to arrest the Métis occupying Upper Fort Garry. Riel took this threat seriously, and ordered Schultz's home surrounded. Given the unrest and absence of a clear authority, The Métis National Committee had little choice but to declare a provisional government, and did so on December 8.
Provisional government
Meanwhile in Ottawa, the Governor General Lord Lisgar had, at Macdonald's behest, proclaimed an amnesty on December 6 for all in Red River who would lay down their arms, and dispatched the Abbé Jean-Baptiste Thibault and Charles-René d’Irumberry de Salaberry on a mission of reconciliation.
On December 27, John Bruce resigned as president of the provisional government, and Riel was elected president. An inconclusive meeting occurred on January 5, 1870 between Riel, de Salaberry, and Thibault, followed by another between Riel and Smith the following day. Meetings were held on January 19 and January 20, and with Riel acting as translator, Smith assured the large audiences of the Canadian government's goodwill, intention to grant representation, and willingness to extend concessions with respect to land claims. With the settlement now solidly behind him, Riel proposed the formation of a new convention of forty representatives, split evenly between French and English settlers, to consider Smith's instructions. Following meetings on February 7 wherein the new list of rights were presented to Thibault, de Salaberry, and Smith, Smith proposed that a delegation be sent to Ottawa to engage in direct negotiations with Canada, a suggestion eagerly accepted by Riel. At this time Riel also proposed that the provisional government should be reformed so as to be more inclusive of both language groups.
Canadian resistance and the execution of Scott
Despite the apparent progress on the political front and the inclusion of Anglophones within the provisional government, the Canadian contingent was not yet silenced, for on January 9 there was a mass escape from the prison at Fort Garry. In any case, Riel had by February 15 freed the remaining prisoners after obtaining assurances that they would refrain from engaging in political agitation.
Mair and Thomas proceeded to the Canadian settlements surrounding Portage la Prairie, where they met Boulton, while Schultz sought recruits in the Canadian parishes downstream. On February 12, Boulton led a party from Portage la Prairie that intended to rendezvous at Kildonan with Schultz's men for the express purpose of then overthrowing the provisional government. However, they were detected by Riel's forces, and on February 17 48 men including Boulton and Thomas Scott were apprehended near Fort Garry.
Now acutely aware of the seriousness of the threat posed by this element, Riel demanded that an example be made of Boulton. Intercessions on his behalf by Donald Smith and others resulted in his pardon, but only after Riel obtained assurances from Smith that he would persuade the English parishes to elect provisional representatives. Donald Smith and Major Boulton were among those who asked Riel to commute the sentence, but Donald Smith reported that Riel responded to his pleas by saying
Riel may also have been told by Scott's jailers that they would kill Scott if the committee did not. Riel's motivations for allowing the execution, described as his one great political blunder, have been the cause of much speculation.
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. 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.
Shortly after this, Mair and Schultz arrived in Toronto, Ontario and with the assistance of George Taylor Denison III, 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.
The Wolseley expedition
As a means of exercising Canadian authority in the settlement and dissuading the Minnesota expansionists, a Canadian military expedition under Colonel Garnet Wolseley was dispatched to the Red River. Learning that Canadian militia elements in the expedition meant to lynch him, Riel fled as the expedition approached the Red River on August 24.
Legacy
Since Canada had no authority over that territory, the provisional government at Red River was legitimate and had to be recognized.
In 1875, Riel was formally exiled from Canada for five years, but under pressure from Quebec the government of Sir John A. Riel was elected to the Canadian parliament three times while in exile, but never took his seat.
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