Louis Riel is considered today as one of the most controversial Canadian Historians. From his lack of loyalty to integrity it is apparent that he is no stranger to contradicting his objectives in turn for self benefit. Riel may have been viewed as a hero to the Métis, however his autocratic ways proved that he did not have the group’s best interest in mind. To proclaim Riel the title “hero” would imply his incentives were for the welfare of the people in the absence of personal fulfilment. Therefore, Louis Riel was deemed a traitor due to his fickle commitment to both the Métis and the Canadian Government. The tension first arose in 1869, when the Canadian government began negations with Hudson's Bay Company to acquire Rupert’s Land. …show more content…
Macdonald’s apparent willingness to negotiate with Riel over the transfer of territory, the Government continued to ploy against him. A group of Ontario settlers opposed to Riel’s uprising attempted to overthrow the Metis settlement. One of the raiders captured by the Métis was Thomas Scott. While being held inside the fort, Scott continually quarrelled with his guards. When Scott was appointed to a military tribunal, no one considered Riel had anything more in mind than to scare the prisoner. Nonetheless, there, Riel tried Scott for treason and the prisoner was sentenced to death. Protestants in Ontario were outraged to say the least. This was seen as an impulsive act of vengeance on Riel’s part and his motivations for this execution caused much conjecture. Perhaps Riel believed an execution would show his provisional government was to be taken seriously, or rather it was a reassurance he himself needed in his own authority. Regardless of the intention, Riel’s dedication to his people seemed to have left with him when the Red River Rebellion collapsed and he …show more content…
During his leave, Riel became very fixated on religious maters. This isolation may have further driven his instilled belief that he was a divinely chosen leader for the Métis. A deteriorating mental state prompt Riel to declare himself prophet of the new world. In a years time after suffering from multiple sporadic irrational outbursts Riel was arranged to be put into an asylum. Eventually, he recovered and was released. Riel remained untroubled until the March of 1885. Riel reintegrated himself with the Métis and swore an oath to: “… save our country from a wicked government by taking up arms, if necessary.” This was the start of a bloody uprising know as the Northwest Rebellion that would soon lead to his execution on charges of high
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.
“I know that through the grace of God, I am the founder of Manitoba,” (Riel, 1885). This quote, by Louis Riel whilst he was on trial in Regina still stands true in today where Manitobans we are constantly feeling the presence of Riel’s legacy and accomplishments. He was the one who originally set the rights that Manitobans and Métis should have. Yet another way he affected Manitoba was in the Manitoba Act of 1870. Furthermore, he gave not only Manitobans, but French-Canadians and Métis alike an icon to venerate. Manitoba would not be what it is today without Louis Riel.
Canadian history consists of many memorable moments, including many great leaders that helped Canada become what it is today, like the well-known Louis St. Laurent. He was born on Feb. 1st, 1882 in Compton, Quebec, and died on July 25, 1973 in Quebec City (Coucil, 13). Louis St. Laurent was raised in a mixed family, with a French - speaking father, and English - speaking Irish mother, and was fluently bilingual. He studied many years in law, where he graduated from law school, at Laval University in 1914, and had been a successful corporation lawyer (“St-Stephen, St. Laurent”). Laurent entered politics a lot later in his years, as he became older; however he still managed to have a large impact on Canada, and achieved many accomplishments. Louis St. Laurent was an extremely important, and well-respected politician, because he helped resolve the conscription crisis from 1940-1944 (,Pickersgill,14), and prevented the government and cabinet from collapsing, which would have caused the society to fall apart at the time, he was involved in the establishment of the Canada Council, which introduced support for Canadian arts, to help Canada separate from the influence of American culture (Jocelyn), and lastly he welcomed Newfoundland into confederation in 1949 (“Newfoundland History”), which was a large accomplishment because of the failures Many other politicians experienced in trying to do so before.
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?
The years following the Second World War were bleak in regards to Canada's future as a country, with the public and politicians alike set against each other, but soon a Québec man by the name of René Lévesque entered journalism, and then politics, voicing his views for all to hear, with great success and vigour. Though obstacles presented themselves often in his life, he changed the views of Québec, Canada and the world as a whole. René Lévesque was a passionate and charismatic politician who greatly contributed to post-war Québec and even today through his beliefs in separatism, founding the Parti Québecois and passing Bill 101.
will be shown that the French-Canadian response to these tensions gave way for the birth of
To start off, I’ll be writing about the life of people in British North America and its significance towards unifying Canada, as well as background knowledge of conflicts that existed. Life in British North America was changing at an alarming rate. New technology and services were being introduced such as railways and steamships. Industries such as building, producing and farming were being introduced. This was in part due to the many immigrants from Britain and France who’d settled. This was dreadful for the First Nations as their land had been taken away even more so than before. More resources were needed for the growing crowd so trade agreements were made. As more people came, the First Nations were even more distanced from the Europeans. Meanwhile, the French and the British wanted the other’s culture to be erased from the
To decide what to do after Quebec separates, First Ministers and the ROC, must first look at why it happened. Perhaps Quebec's profound nationalism and unique national identity conflicted with citizens in the ROC; in order to gain understanding of their decision the ROC must look at Quebec's past. Quebec was not always treated fairly nor where they given many rights in regards t...
The battle of Quebec was also known to be the seven year war. It was the French and Indian war. The battle started in 1757 and it finished in 1762. The place where the battle took place in was Quebec Canada. The war started on the date of September 13. The British and Americans were against the French and Canadians. Major General James Wolfe was one of the generals. He was against the Marquis de Montcalm.
Harold Cardinal made a bold statement in his book, The Unjust Society, in 1969 about the history of Canada’s relationship with Aboriginal peoples. His entire book is, in fact, a jab at Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s idea of ‘the just society’. Pierre Elliott Trudeau made great assumptions about First Nations people by declaring that Aboriginal people should be happy about no longer being described as Indian. His goal was to rid Canada of Indians by assimilating them into the Canadian framework. Considered by many as a progressive policy, Trudeau’s white paper demonstrates just how accurate the following statement made by Harold Cardinal at the beginning of his book is : “The history of Canada’s Indians is a shameful chronicle of the white man’s disinterest,
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...
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.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
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...
But after the Post-War Era, Canada experienced its worst crisis since the Second World War when a group in Quebec called the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) started to show up in the news. The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) was created in 1963. The FLQ’s goal was to separate Quebec from Canada by killing innocent individuals. On October 5, 1970, two men imitating as delivery men kidnapped James Richard Cross from his house. The kidnappers announce on a radio station to kill Cross in two days unless the government releases 23 political prisoners that were being held due to terrorism. The government refused to accept the demands of the kidnappers. As a result of rejecting the proposal, Labour Minister Pieree Laporte got kidnapped. Many were surprised the abduction of Laporte, due to the kidnapping the government started to take it the FQL seriously. On October 15, about three thousand people came to the Paul Sauvé Arena to support for the FLQ's idea to separate. This crisis woke up numerous Canadians that Quebec is trying very hard to gain autonomy from Canada. The October Crisis resulted in many French-Canadians believing that separating from the English-Canadians would solve their problems. Due to the FLQ’s idea of separatism, the relations between the French and the English got even worse and made French-Canadians think that they really