Red River Rebellion

The Red River Rebellion of 1869, in present day Manitoba is an important event in Canadian history, and especially in the lives of Canada’s Métis population. There have been many articles and books written on the topic of the Red River Rebellion in the years following its occurrence. This paper will look at the views of five different authours and their views on the Red River Rebellion. The sources that surround the Red River Rebellion come from people of many different scholarly backgrounds, walks of life and opinions. To really understand an event that happened so long ago it is important to see the way that a variety of different people have viewed the issue. Some differing approaches to this occurrence in 1869 showing many sides and views of what happened such as the idea that Riel could not have been behind the rebellion, the idea that it was in fact Riel who made the Red River Rebellion happen, the involvement of the British in the conflict, blame that may be placed on the Canadian government at the time and the perspective of the Métis peoples are all very important aspects that must be looked at as one searches for ideas about the Red River Rebellion. The five sources that I have chosen to look at which show in very different lights where the blame should be placed for the Red River Rebellion of 1869 are as follows.
Thomas Flanagan’s Political Theory of the Red River Resistance, written in 1978, G. Ens’ Prologue to the Red River Resistance: Preliminal Politics and the Triumph of Riel, written in 1994, J.P. Smith’s Riel Rebellion of 1869: New Light on British Liberals and the use of Force on the Canadian Frontier, from 1995, J.M. Bumsted’s Crisis at Red River: 125 Years Ago Louis Riel Defied Canada also written in 1995, and finally Donald Purich’s 1988 book The Métis. In 1978 Thomas Flanagan wrote an article in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, entitled Political Theory of the Red River Resistance: The Declaration of December 8, 1869. This

Cited: Bumstead, J.M. “Crisis at Red River: 125 Years Ago Louis Riel Defied Canada” The Beaver 75 (1995): 23-34 Ens, G. “Prologue to the Red River Resistance: Preliminal Politics and the Triumph of Riel” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 5 (1994): 111-123 Flanagan, T. “Political Theory of the Red River Resistance: The Declaration of December 8. 1869.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 11 (1978): 153-157 Purich, D. The Métis. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1988 Smith, J.P. “Riel Rebellion of 1869: New Light on British Liberals and the use of Force on the Canadian Frontier.” The Journal of Canadian Studies 30 (1995): 58-73