1885 Northwest Rebellion

10 Pages 2605 Words

delay the transfer of the colony until this dispute is settled. Macdonald opens the door for negotiations with Riel and the Metis. In November 1869, Riel and the provisional government made up a bill of rights and attached to it a list of grievances to base their negotiations on with the Macdonald government. The federal government sent Donald Smith of the HBC to represent Canada in the negotiations with the Red River colony and offers them a better deal then what they requested which would be decided by a committee of Metis and the Canadian government. There is now a second problem that comes into play for the Metis. An expansionist group is in the Red River colony and wants to overthrow the Riel government so Canada can expand. The provisional government starts to take prisoners and will only release them if they either agree to leave the colony or obey the government. Some prisoners refuse and do escape. A raid is showered on Fort Garry by the expansionists and again prisoners are taken, one in particular is an Orange Lodge Irishman by the name of Tom Scott, who was tried for treason and executed by the provisional government. The Manitoba Act of 1870 was the result of these events where the new province of Manitoba could enter confederation as a province, which was geographically only 35 000 km sq. around the Red River colony and Portage la Prairie, had its own legislative assembly with four MP’s and two senators, and it also addressed language rights and education for French Metis. Armed troops were sent in after the act was stated only to find Fort Garry empty. Riel had won his people land and cultural rights, land in particular was that set aside for the Metis and their children. There was a downfall, many Metis families had their land seized by migrants from Ontario and passed amendments, since they dominated the economic, political, and social systems, which made it difficult for Metis to prove that they owned land. ...