Hidden Agendas (05)
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| Title: | Hidden Agendas (05) |
| Creator: | Ronaghan, Allen |
| Subject: | Red River Resistance, Red River Expeditionary Force, Repression, Racism, Colonization |
| Description: | This document is Allen Ronaghan`s doctoral thesis entitled “Hidden Agendas.” It deals with the repression directed towards the Métis following Manitoba’s entry into Confederation. This thesis explains who systematic the Macdonald government was in its repression of the Métis after the conclusion of the Red River Resistance. As Allen Ronaghan indicates in an August 4, 2009 letter to the Institute, this historical event needed to be better understood in both the historical record and in the public memory of the Red River Resistance:
“My interest in the Red River Resistance began when I was teaching Social Studies in junior high school in Alberta. At that time, many of the sources referred to it as the “Riel Rebellion,” and painted Riel in the blackest possible colours. Other sources, notably Howard’s Strange Empire, looked at the affair differently and forced me to do more research. As I studied the events of the resistance, I was struck by several facts. On the one hand, the demands made by the people of Red River in their Bill of Rights seemed to me very moderate. On the other hand, Sir John A. Macdonald’s administration was planning military action against Red River long before any fatalities occurred in the region. Also, I learned to my surprise that the arrival of the Red River Expeditionary Force did not mean the establishment of law and order, as our textbooks had stated, but instead provided force to those like John G. Schultz who were fomenting disorder and making it impossible for Lieutenant-Governor Archibald to call upon the man, Louis Riel, who had the confidence of a majority of the people, to act as premier. Lacking a leader, a new “province” of Manitoba was unable to question the legality of the Manitoba Act, which created an entity which did not have control of its own natural resources, but saw them managed by a department in distant Ottawa. An act passed by the British Parliament in 1871 confirmed this creation. The furor over the “murder” of Thomas Scott created a smokescreen which obscured this hidden agenda of Macdonald and Georges-Etienne Cartier. Problems which plague the people of Canada to this day have their origins in this hidden agenda. It is time for the people of Canada to know and understand this fact.” |
| Publisher: | Gabriel Dumont Institute |
| Date: | 1870s |
| Type: | Text Document |
| Date of Copyright: | September 29, 2009 |
| Coverage: | Red River, Manitoba |
| GDI Media Filename: | Hidden Agendas 05.PDF |
Related Categories
Hidden Agendas—Ronaghan, Allen