Louis Riel Hero Or Hero

“Life, without a dignity of an intelligent being is not worth having” said Louis Riel. Louis Riel a Canadian politician, the founder of the province of Manitoba and a political leader of the Metis people of the Red River Settlement . He was a knight and shining armor for the Metis people of the Red River Settlement for many reasons. Riel was to be on a quest to preserve Metis rights and culture. Over the years he has been a hero to the francophones. A lot of people disagree on this issue, that Riel is a traitor or a hero. Each with own different opinions and different stories. Were the government wrong for hanging him? In the case of Louis Riel, the question of whether he is a hero or a traitor is left hanging and debatable in every Canadian.

There was a need for the rebellion when the Métis have had enough of being taken advantage of. At the time, land speculators and surveyors laid out square townships and disregarded the strip lots the settlers were used to having. When Rupert's Land was purchased without any consultations with the settlers in the area. The Métis called for Riel, who was the leader of the Métis in the prairies at the time. Riel created a provisional government in the area and tried to negotiate with the Canadian government as much as possible. On November 16 at Fort Garry, Riel met with a convention of 12 English speaking and 12 French speaking representatives from the Red River Settlement. They all discussed the formation of a provisional government that was temporary until they found a permanent one. While this decision was made Riel had 24 supporters, supporting him. Macdonald did not want the red river to become a part of Canada until the claim had been restored. The Hudson's Bay company(HBC) did not want to intervene because since the Metis attacked upper Fort Garry they were in control of it instead of the HBC. McDougall waited until December 1, 1869, when Ruperts land was transferred to the Canadian government. The Canada party wanted English-speakers of the European ancestry to have the authority of red river. That when Riel and his Metis followers surrounded Dr.John Schultz(leader of the Canada party) and claimed a large supply of pork. The Metis put 50 people that were guarding the contents and put them in jail cells. The reason why Riel and the Metis surrounded John Schultz store was because they thought that it’s wasn't fair that they wanted the Europeans to have control when it was them harvesting and taking care of the