The Red River Rebellion

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During the late 1860s the Red River Settlement was rapidly changing and along with these changes came multiple causes and conflicts that would subsequently to a resistance called the Red River Rebellion. Many profound changes occurred in the Red River Settlement that had caused problems and hostility among the inhabitants to emerge such as:the arrival of Canadians to the settlement, the economic problems and the decline of the Hudson Bay Company. However, the Red River Rebellion was sparked by the Hudson Bay Company selling Rupert’s Land to the new Dominion of Canada without consulting with the inhabitants nor paying any regards to their interests.The colonists of the Red River Settlement, many of whom were Metis, feared for their culture and land rights under the dominion’s control. In order to ascertain that their rights would be protected, the Metis set up a provisional government under the leadership of Louis Riel to negotiate an agreement with the new Dominion of Canada that the Red River Settlement and the lands surrounding it, could enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba under their own terms.

During the 1850s, the population of Canada West was rapidly rising, this meant that the majority of the suitable land for agriculture had already been farmed and settled. Thus, more and more people were moving West seeking for new areas to occupy and clear.The Red River Valley was a very appealing prospect to them because of its fertile soil and small population. However, the majority of the migrating population in the Red River were Protestants and members of the Orange Order, this fact alone had caused tension to rise within the colony. The Orange Order was a Protestant movement that was vehemently anti-French and anti-...

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...d be set up in the colony. Unfortunately, when Wolseley and his men arrived at Fort Garry on August of 1870, Riel had already fled the scenes without fighting and took refuge in the United States. Their arrival marked the effective end of the Red River Rebellion.

The Red River Colony was changing, but it wasn’t the only one, all of Canada were changing, because in the late 1860s Canada entered a new era and the changes and events that occurred in the Red River was only the beginning of many more conflicts and circumstances to come that would help shape and define this age Canada has entered. Although the Red River Rebellion had ostensibly achieved most of its major objectives, the Metis would soon find themselves at a disadvantage. They would rise yet again for another rebellion called The North-West Rebellion of 1885 to assert their nationality once more.

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