Why louis riel was a traitor

As an anointed prophet from God — and with a sizeable following who believed this to be so — Riel expected to triumph in what would become the North West Rebellion.

Although I was convinced that from a humane standpoint, mine was the better plan, I had confidence in his faith, and that God would listen to him. To borrow a phrase from Trotsky, the end may justify the means if there is something to justify the end.

The trial deserves coverage in part because of its large symbolic importance to Canadians, in part because of how the story of Louis Riel shaped the history of North America, and in part because of the lingering questions about Riel's mental state at the time of his participation in the North-West Rebellion of American readers of this trial might also note striking parallels between the Riel trial and the treason trial of Aaron Burr.

Canadian forces easily quelled the uprising of a couple of hundred Metis settlers along the South Saskatchewan River. A majority of Metis in the region sat out the fighting, and only about one hundred persons died in the conflict. Although that figure of one hundred deaths was significant in this sparsely populated region. The importance of the North-West Rebellion, apart from establishing the ability of the Canadian government to successfully carry out a military action far from its center of power, is symbolic.

As has been often noted by historians, the debate over the North-West Rebellion and the subsequent trial of Louis Riel reveals the tensions that continue to distinguish Canada: east versus west, native versus non-native, French-speaking versus English-speaking, American versus Canadian.

Over time, Louis Riel has been seen as "a demagogic madman," as an innocent victim of Prime Minister John Macdonald's fanaticism, or as a martyred national-liberation leader. None of these characterizations is entirely accurate; each contains some measure of truth. The North-West Rebellion and the trial of Louis Riel is best understood as the product of a particular place and time: the Canadian frontier, in a time when civilization and its institutions confronted the traditions of a more primitive people.

The North-West Rebellion had its roots in an earlier crisis. In March , The Hudson's Bay Company owner of a large swath of land called Rupert's Land including present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan , agreed to sell most of its land to the Canadian Government in return for , pounds in cash and land grants totaling seven million acres.

Before the transfer became effective on December 1, decisions had to be made what to do with the 12, settlers living in the Red River area of Rupert's Land, near present-day Winnipeg. About four-fifths of these settlers were Metis, persons of mixed white usually French and Indian ancestry.

Who was Louis Riel? Riel might be the most complicated, elusive, puzzling, and controversial figure in Canadian history. Riel was born in into a devout Catholic family in St. Boniface, a settlement on the Red River, in present-day Winnipeg. Although of seven-eighths white ancestry, Riel considered himself a Metis. He left home at age fourteen to travel to Montreal and study for the priesthood. He proved himself to be a serious and gifted student, striking his masters as deeply faithful and scholarly, but some and a bit odd and reclusive.

Two years later, when his widowed mother begged him to return home, Riel left Montreal. On his way back in , Riel stayed for several months in St. Paul, where he heard stories from Metis traders of growing unrest in the settlements north of the border along the Red River.

The impending transfer of the Hudson Bay Company's land to Canada was a major worry for the Metis, who wondered what it might mean for the thier independent lifestyle.

And, of course, the native people who lived on the land might have beggged to differ about whether the land was really the King's to grant in , when it first came to be owned by the Company. No one in power seemed particularly interested about how the 10, or so Metis, and 2, or so white settlers, who lived along the Red River area of Rupert's Land felt about the transfer.

When Riel returned to his mother's small cottage, he began to understand--then to champion--the cause of the Metis. The fact that Riel spoke English--a rare ability among the Metis--buttressed his influence. When a Canadian survey team showed up in the Red River region in the fall of , local residents concerns increased. Riel persuaded the surveyors to abandon their mission. Then he rallied the French-speaking Metis and the English-speaking mixed race people, stressing their common grievances with Eastern interests.

He urged the creation of a local army to oppose the appointment of William McDougall as the new lieutenant-governor to run the Red River settlement. Riel's message resonated and he took the offensive. The fort fell without bloodshed. Then Riel formed a provisional government with himself as the president. A plot by whites was set in motion to retake Fort Garry. But Riel's government got wind of it and arrested the plotters.

In March , a provisional court court-martialed for treason, sentenced to death, and executed Thomas Scott , the hot-headed and most unrepentantly racist and uncooperative member of a group that had attempted to re-take Fort Garry from Riel's government. The decision to execute Scott came after he relentlessly taunted his captors. Scott's killing, and the outrage it caused, became the "central and defining event of the Red River Resistance.

When word of Scott's execution got out, many infuriated English-speaking Canadians in Ontario called for Riel's head. Prime Minister John Macdonald sent forces west to regain control of the region. Riel's provisional governmental army was no match for the Canadian troops. Riel fled just hours before the troops reached and re-took Fort Garry. In June , Canadian negotiators reached agreement with Riel's government to establish a new province to be called Manitoba.

Settlers were promised the right to retain their land, and and additional 1. When word, however, reached Riel that the amnesty he thought had been promised in the negotiations was not forthcoming, he fled to the Dakota Territory. The next several years saw Riel go in and out of Canada, and in and out of the Canadian Parliament. For periods of time, he lived in Minnesota and in northern New York, but he remained committed to Metis politics.

In October , even with an outstanding warrant for his arrest, Riel won election to the Canadian Parliament. In February , Riel won the seat again, even though he was hiding in Montreal, far from his Red River home, at the time. You guys need to update the website I am a school kid and I know more!

Thank you not, of the website. Grade seven take walk by a school. Riel was no more a traitor than Sitting Bull who opposed the expansionist, gold hungry Americans, the Boer Louis Botha who opposed the gold and diamond hungry British, or the Schleswig Dane Ditlev Gothard Monrad who opposed the militaristic land hungry Prussians.

They were all protecting their lands, hearths, and people from arrogant tyrants. We as Canada lived under British rule at that time and the law for treason would have been against the king!

They met him in Montana where he was teaching school. I am learning about this in social class and I have to write a paragraph about Louis Riel. If he was a traitor, a hero, both or neither? If anyone has any good information could you reply or post. I think it would be safe to say that he was both. He was a traitor to Canada rebels are generally considered to be traitors and a hero to the Metis Nation. Sorry for the late reply; I hope the paragraph turned out. If someone forcibly broke into you home and you fought against him, would you be a traitor or hero.

If you would like a little more insight to Louis Riel then it might help to get hold of the Grey Nun journals in certain towns. After having one of those journals written in French translated to me I was interested to learn why Ile a la Crosse Sk.

She was a Grey Nun and her headstone is easy to find in the Ile a la Crosse cemetery. The people hid out on an island marked with a cross. Fortunately Louis Riel was captured before he could get there. This might not be accurate but that is what the Grey Nuns of the time believed. It is interesting that the ancestors of those people still celebrate Louis Riel day. While I appreciate that there is very little space to the full story, and applaud you for encouraging individuals too do their own research, I agree this treatment is both vague and inaccurate with an underlying bias.

Your simple description of Thomas Scott as a violent bigot is overly simplified and somewhat defamatory as well. Historical evidence and the words of the Metis people there who experienced it are not nearly as kind to his memory. This article is so biased and untrue. Louis Riel elected the jury and judge to be his closest friends. So, the whole trial was set up guaranteed for Thomas Scott to die. This was not an execution, it was a murder.

This article is so biased and unfair it makes me want to perform my own lobotomy. I was the defence team leader, and everything I said to protect the man I believed in. Although I have to agree that it was right for Riel to defend the rights of his people, he did it in a horribly wrong way.

Social Sharing. What's the first thought that comes to mind when you see the name Louis Riel? All of the above. It's complicated. Louis Riel's great-great-niece reflects on how he's been viewed:.

Louis Riel: traitor or hero? Province recognizes Louis Riel as 1st leader of Manitoba. Macdonald's name on schools. Related Stories Point of View.