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Unit 4 - Chapter 5

Unit 4 - Chapter 5. The Prairies – 1870-1885. Métis Flee Westward. Manitoba Act 1870 – welcomed by the Métis – made French and English official languages and 2 education systems – Protestant and RC, 1.4 million acres of reserve land for Métis

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Unit 4 - Chapter 5

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  1. Unit 4 - Chapter 5 The Prairies – 1870-1885

  2. Métis Flee Westward • Manitoba Act 1870 – welcomed by the Métis – made French and English official languages and 2 education systems – Protestant and RC, 1.4 million acres of reserve land for Métis • MacDonald sends military in to keep the peace but they brutalize Métis. • Scrips – 2 types: Land (160 acres) and Money ($160). Métis didn’t understand the value of these scrips

  3. Land Speculators arrived and bought up scrips below face value. Métis were often threatened with imprisonment if they didn’t turn over scrips. • Métis flee Manitoba in the early 1870s and move into the prairies and set up traditional style settlements. • 1873 Métis adopted Laws of St. Laurent – laws that governed all aspects of life in the settlement, including bison hunting.

  4. Bison Hunt Conflict of 1875 • According to the Laws of St. Laurent, Bison could only be hunted at certain times. This was to help conserve bison herds. • Gabriel Dumont, President of the Métis in St Laurent, arrested and fined the Métis from Fort Carleton who disregarded the bison hunting Laws of St Laurent. • Chief Factor Lawrence Clarke, who thought Métis were inferior, was told of Dumont’s actions

  5. Clarke vs. Dumont • Clarke arrested Dumont on the grounds that he had no right to arrest and fine hunters. • The Canadian Government did not approve of Clarke’s action but did nothing to censure (stop) him. • Clarke’s actions made the Laws of St Laurent invalid

  6. Northwest Mounted Police • NWMP are sent to the Northwest to police the area. • Traders from the USA were trading illegally in the area and often selling cheap whisky for expensive furs. • Aboriginal nations were suffering from this practice. Alcoholism was widespread and many First Nations suffered from malnutrition and disease.

  7. Treaties with First Nations • Canadian government needed to sign treaties with First Nations groups in order to settle the prairies. • 1870s - Simpson, Indian Commissioner from the Department of Indian Affairs, was sent to begin talks with First Nations communities. • 7 treaties were signed between 1870-1899 • Treaty 1 - First Nations welcomed the prospect of becoming farmers since traditional ways of life were becoming endangered.

  8. Government promised farming equipment, education and supplies on farming in exchange for land rights. Canadian government never held their end of the bargain. They considered it ‘unnatural’ for native people to farm. • By the mid-1870s First Nation communities were totally dependant on the government for support. • 1876 Government creates Indian Act – Native people to live on reservations and all children to attend residential schools

  9. Residential Schools

  10. National Dream • MacDonald wanted a nation that would rival the USA. • Railway – MacDonald needed to find backers to underwrite the project. • Pacific Scandal – 2 memos leaked: MacDonald contacted Cartier to find out if Allen would finance the election in return for the CPR contract. Cartier write one suggesting Hugh Allen would receive the CPR contract and the other listing Allen’s contribution to the Conservative Party • MacDonald’s government resigned in 1873

  11. Mackenzie and the Liberals assumed power in 1873. • Considered the CPR too expensive and pushed it aside. Sent Sandford Flemming to survey the area for possible routes of the CPR. • BC upset – CPR to BC was one of the terms for joining confederation in 1871.

  12. National Policy • MacDonald’s 1878 election platform was the National Policy. • Started campaigning in 1876. • National Policy was 3 items: • Promised Protective Tariffs – impose tariffs on USA goods coming to Canada to protect and increase Canada’s economy • Western Settlements – settle the west and produce agriculture that could be manufactured in the east • CPR – provided a means to ship goods across the country and around the world via ports.

  13. CPR Syndicate • A group of 3 businessmen financed the project: George Stephens from BMO, Donald Smith of the HBC and James Hill, an expat. investor in USA railways. • Upon completion the Government would hand over $25 mil, 25 mil acres of land in the prairies, monopoly on all rail traffic west of lake Superior for 20 years, exemption from tax on land until it was sold. • Contract was approved by Parliament Feb 1, 1881.

  14. Syndicate changes the route, 300 miles south to maximize profits and to develop a future for running lines to settled areas. • Fall 1881 – only 230kms were finished and CPR needed someone to better manage the project • William Van Horne is hired to run the project, he is effective • 1883 money is running out and Government finances $22.5 million to finish the project

  15. Working and living conditions were poor – dust from dynamite blasts made it hard to breathe, insects, over-crowding in bunk houses, filthy sleeping quarters, leaky roofs, no plumbing. Poor diet, no medical facilities, no workers comp – if you got sick or injured you did not get paid or get compensation • 1885 – CPR saves the nation by transporting troops to the Northwest Rebellion in Manitoba in just 5 days.

  16. Northwest Rebellion • 1882 Government slashes Department of Indian Affairs’ budget – money is needed for the CPR: promised aid to farmers never materialized and First Nations had to rely on food handouts. Government was conditional on who got food – given to those who didn’t cause trouble. • First Nations and Métis continued to press for land titles

  17. Louis Riel Returns • 1884 Delegation of Métis head to Montana to find Riel. He is working as a school teacher. He hears their plight and agrees to fight for justice on their behalf. • Government is tipped off of possible revolt and NWMP investigate and determine that 500-1100 Métis are ready to take up arms. • 1884 – Riel and sympathetic European farmer create ‘Métis List of Rights’. It was ignored by the Canadian Government.

  18. 1884 – tension rising in the Northwest • 1885 - Government starts to mobilize forces to react against potential Métis uprising. Militia in the east is ready to mobilize, militia in Manitoba is moving to the Northwest, NWMP in St Laurent (Sask) are small but ready • March 19, 1885 – Riel addresses Métis in St Laurent and tells them that peaceful resolution was impossible and Canadian Government is determined to make war with Métis.

  19. 1st Clash – Duck Lake – talks soon escalate to violence and 2 Métis are shot, 12 NWMP are killed and 25 more are injured. Northwest Rebellion had begun. • 5000 troops are sent to the Northwest. • Battles at Batoche – starts on May 9, 175 Métis vs. 725 Militia. Métis hold ground for 3 days but know defeat is inevitable. • Riel is Captured on May 15, 1885

  20. Other aboriginal leasers are arrested and either pardoned or sentenced to small prison terms. Government viewed Aboriginals as wayward children who had been misled by Riel rather than those who had been driven by their own convictions for justice. • Riel is take to Regina and charged with High Treason. Trial took place in July 1885. Lawyers decided to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity but Riel refused this.

  21. Riel was determined to show that the Métis had been mistreated and goaded into the rebellion and that they were no longer a force in the Northwest. He told the court of the deprivation of his people and placed the blame of the rebellion on the Canadian Government • Riel was found guilty of High Treason but the judge and jury asked the Government for clemency. • Riel was hanged on Nov 16, 1885.

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