Jasdeep Sandhu
Riel Essay
Louis Riel was many things, but a traitor was not one of them. He, was the Father of Manitoba. He was a central-figure in the Red-River Rebellion, where the Metis, uneducated and alone had to take a stance against a mighty governemnt. He was the spiritual and political leader of the metis. He was an incredibly well-educated lawyer, husband, and father. He was a martyr. And most importantly of all, Louis Riel was a hero. When he was of a younger, age I suppose he would've never guessed what fate had in store for him. Returning to his homeland, becoming the figurhead of Metis rights and culture, rising up against the injustice occuring een after Manitoba was established, and most importanly, and somehow the most tragic,
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trying to resolve these problems with a Metis Bill of Rights, just to be shot down and forced to take up arms. Louis Riel was an extrordianry man, but that could not save him from his inevitable death by the Canadian Governent. But, when Louis Riel died, he died a hero. After the death of his father, Louis Riel returned to his homeland in the Red River Valley.
Therem he heard of the great injustices being done to his people, and was outraged, immediatly taking on the role of leader of the MEtis, to attempt to reason with and secure the Emtis's rights. Riel was educated, and he understood the trecherous position the Metis had found themselves in. He knew, that if the MEtis weren't careful, they stood to loseall of their land to the governemnt, on the basis of having no deeds of anykind to the land itself. Soon, rattled by the surveyors sent into the Red River, Riel fromed the Metis NAtional COmmitee to fight for MEetis concerns of their land. And please note that all of this was very much legal, and civilized- Riel was not a radical crazy dictator, rather he was a level-headed and sound individual. Shortly after the creation of this well-meaning council, Riel and his men occupied Fort Garry, and effectively seized its munitions. And, that was the turning point, and beginning of the Red River Rebellion, a rebellion that Riel had hoped would help the governemnt understand his point of viwe, as the temporary head of the provisional government that Riel sets up in the Red RIver Valley for the
time. Riel and his supporters never wanted to rebel. They had truly only wanted to make sure thta the people of the Red River Valley would retain their rights and traditions after the region was transferred to Canada. Riel felt that it was necessary for there to be a provisinal governemnt, as without one, the governement may give all the power to the Canadian Party, and ignore the MEtis, and their concerns. So, to further drive a nail through his point, Riel and his people drew up a list of Rights.
In 1869, Red River and the North West were to be transferred from the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canadian jurisdiction, so survey crews were sent to Red River. These crews were disrupted by a group of Métis including Riel, who then organized themselves as the “Métis National Committee” with Riel as secretary. This committee formed a provisional government in December 1869 and Louis Riel became its president. This government established a Bill of Rights for the Métis people. They were challenged by a group of English settlers known a...
The story of Louis Riel began on October 28th 1844. He was born in a log cabin beside Seine Lake. The same priest who married his parents one year earlier baptized Louis on his day of birth. Many people view Louis Riel as the biggest pioneer of Metis in Canadian history. They base their decision on the fortresses he took and his position in Metis organizations. Others call him a joke and despise him. They base this on him being taken to trial for treason and eventually convicted and sentenced to death. As well as him betraying his country and fleeing when the land's owners were switched ruining a chance for a rebellion and having the nerve to return and restart a rebellion only before being arrested tried and hung. Everybody has his or her own view as what to make of Louis Riel. What's yours…? Hero or Villain?
Was Louis Riel a hero or a traitor? Well, some individuals say that he was a hero, and others say that he was a traitor. Individually I believe that Louis Riel was a hero because he was the forefather of Manitoba, which is a province of Canada. The fact that he was a persuasive politician and spiritual leader made him a hero as well. Lastly, he stood up for Native rights. Others like the British had thought of him mostly as a traitor, because they were not able to understand that Louis Riel had just needed the Canadian government to treat his people fairly, and that he was willing to do everything for his people. Instead the government had thought that he was violent and evil, so a threat to them. Most people who had seen him as a traitor had realized that he did everything for his people…after his hanging.
To them, the excitement and the adventure of the buffalo hunt held more appeal than farming. Hundreds of Metis were content to earn a living by hunting buffalo, making pemmican or finding employment as freight drivers. After a while Canada bought Rupertsland from Hudson Bay Company. When the Metis heard this they were alarmed. They feared their religion,their language, their lands and their old, free way of* life.
The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) represents the Métis community in Manitoba in political, cultural, social and economic matters (Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), 2013). Manitoba Métis Federation, representing Métis in Manitoba, filed a claim asking for a declaration that the federal and provincial statutes, which affected the implementation of Manitoba Act provisions, were "constitutionally invalid” (Chartrand, p. 477, 1991). In Section 31 of Manitoba Act, 1870, it provided lands to the Métis people. Section 32 assured the settlers, Aboriginal or not, that their occupied lands in 1869 would not be “jeopardized” by the wave of newcomers (Sprague...
Marquis de Lafayette was a very tactical and smart war general. He was very respected and was The Hero of Two Worlds because he fought for France and America. Marquis was born on September 6, 1757 in Chavaniac, France. Marquis was very young when he was first commissioned an officer, he was only 13 years old. He started to the travel the New World to seek glory. Then he was made a Major General at the age of 19. When he was first a major general he was given no troops to commission at the time. In the Battle of Brandywine he was injured and had to force an early retreat. He also served in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of that war he had to return to France to receive more troops. After those battles he sailed to America in 1780
Louis Riel had taken up residence in the United States after the Red River Rebellion. A delegation traveled to Montana to enlist Riel's help once again to stop the Canadian government from encroaching on Métis land. Riel returned to Canada with the delegation and drew up a petition of grievances that had the support of both English and French speaking Métis as well as the immigrant settlers of the area. The petition was sent to the federal government calling for improved political representation, modification of the homesteading laws, and a land grant for the Métis among the seventeen items called for. Riel and his followers believed themselves to not being taken seriously by the Canadian government so he set up the first provisional government in the Northwest. Riel's earlier religious training was affecting his way of looking at his situation and he began fighting against the church and calling for war against the Canadian government. He proclaimed himself, "Prophet of the New World" and claimed his authority came directly from God (Stanley 302). Riel's provisional government was beginning to lose its original support and even the French-speaking Métis began to question his intentions. He hurriedly restored the unity with the treason trial of Charles Nolin and ...
The heroism of Marquis de Lafayette evokes near-universal praise as a selfless lionheart, and champion of freedom. From a volunteer commissioned as a Major General in the continental army, to a freedom fighter in revolutionary France, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette’s leadership is admired by patriots in both nations, and historians around the world. His heroism, however, is not just as a result of his wartime triumphs. Indeed, intellectuals praise the man for not just being a warrior, but a humanitarian, a philosopher, and a revolutionary.
The Marquis de Lafayette is best remembered for the part he played in the American War of Independence. He contributed in helping the Americans gain free control over the colonies by breaking away from British home rule. For sixty years he fought with consistency and insight for political ideals and social reforms that have dominated the history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hence, Lafayette can be attributed to the spreading of liberty and freedom throughout America and France. Therefore, he is viewed as a symbol of liberalism in a once absolutist world.
In the seventeenth century there were different types of leaders in Europe. The classic monarchial rule was giving way to absolutist rule. Absolute kings claimed to be ruling directly from God, therefore having divine rule that could not be interfered with. In 1643 Louis XIV began his reign over France as an absolute king.
Many people saw Louis Riel as a hero because of his passion about preserving the Métis rights and culture. Riel was a great Métis leader because he risked his own life just to improve the Métis’ lives. His heroism began when he returned home to Red River in 1868 after his studies, and discovered that the settlement was alarmed by arrangements to transfer territorial rights from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Dominion of Canada. This was because the Hudson’s Bay Company resigned its control of the Northwest, and sold Rupert’s Land to Canada. This caused the Métis (people of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage) to fear that they would lose control of their homeland and traditional rights. They we...
Louis Riel, the leader of the Métis people and the father of Manitoba, passed away peacefully on November, 16, 1885. Earlier this year, on July 6th, Riel was charged with treason, and placed on trial. Later, he was found guilty by a jury of six English protestants. Riel was executed earlier this week on public gallows. His execution took place in Regina. His body now remains in Saint-Boniface.
Their relationship draws a small picture to the relationship between the French and English Canadians living in Eastern Canada during the wartime periods. Many of the older generations of French and English settlers hold strong discriminations against the other race. The French-Canadians portray the English-Canadians as selfish people who want the sea and fish for themselves while the opposite thinks the French-Canadians are hooligans who are “traitors to their own flag” and “wouldn’t serve the English flag either”, that they cared nothing of the land, just kept the English people “from settling, from making laws” (p.91-92). Even in school, the youngsters are taught the battle between the British and French over the fish and the Newfoundland shores that has continued for hundreds of years because of their different perspective on the usage of the land and its resources. For instance, Livvy’s father and an Englishman, Darwin, complain that the shoreline to the French is simply a “nursery for seamen” and a “cradle for their sailors” (p.93). He strongly despises French-Canadians with this being one of the reasons. Through these few pages of the novel, an image of the conflict between the French and English in Eastern Canada, especially in Newfoundland, is easily drawn. While this conflict strains the atmosphere in East Canada, the threat the
contributed to the execution of King Louis XVI so that French citizens might find a better existence under honest rule. To keep citizens focused on the revolution, he established a
The government did also have their rights. Also if Luis Riel had wanted the situation could have been handled more strategically so that people would not be getting arrested and killed. Louis Riel and his followers did not understand that they were living under a government and that they should oblige to their rules and express their disagreement using more peaceful routes. Also rebelling against the government would not have left a good impression of him and the Metis people, whom he was representing. The government would not want consider the opinion of people that rebelled against them. Also in that time it would be an extreme offense to be challenging the government. This action would essentially be disobeying the law. By rebelling he would not be setting a good example to the people that considered him a hero and looked up to him for