The Red River Settlement Shape of the Class

The Red River Settlement

Shape of the Class - Battle of 7 Oaks Selkirk Settlement Reading a Letter Answer Comparing

Follow up Questions • Have we been misled by the painting? • How does it characterize the people involved? • What viewpoint is this painted from? Who do you think painted it? • When we look at a source like this what kind of things do we have to keep in mind?

Land in Scotland - Crofters worked the land in Scotland but it became more profitable to use it as grazing land than to have rent. - Lord Selkirk created agricultural colonies in Canada to house these people who had been push off of their land in Scotland - The Red River area was very fertile and Selkirk saw this as an opportunity

Selkirk's Plan - Wanted to help out the HBC by having a fort in the west they could trade from while helping the crofters - “Selkirk’s Grant” in 1811 allowed him to get 300, 000 square km from which he would create a settlement - People were sceptical of how he would deal with the harsh winters when creating his settlement.

A Quote on Selkirk “By God Sir, if you are bent in something futile… why not plough the deserts of the Sahara, which is so much nearer? ” - What can we learn from this? - What is he saying? - What does this tell us about what Selkirk was trying to do?

Colonists Arrive! - 120 colonists came to the new settlement in 1813. - The crops failed the first year but after planting earlier they were able to sustain their crops. - Mac. Donell was appointed to run the Red River Settlement and outlawed the sale of pemmican to the NWC - Mac. Donell ordered the NW to vacate the Red River colony within 6 months and by spring 1814 the Metis and NWC began to push back

Battle of 7 Oaks - Robert Semple came with 84 new colonist and took over the Red River colony. - He did not heed the warnings bout not bothering the Metis and he burned down and empty NWC fort (Fort Gilbratar) - May 1816 the Metis led by Cuthburt Grant raided group of HBC boats stealing Pemmican

Battle of 7 Oaks - Semple saw the Metis as inferior and rode out to confront them with 28 men - The Metis split up and flanked Semple from behind - Semple and 20 of his men were killed within 15 minutes - Only 1 Metis was killed

Red River Destroyed - The conflict between the NWC and HBC ended destroying the settlement and when Selkirk heard about it he marched with 90 Swiss troops to reclaim the settlement and start it again for a third time. - He signed pacts with the Ojibwa and Cree to take control of the Red River Valley for 100 pounds of tobacco a year - Selkirk died after being taken to court by the NWC for his actions 3 years later

Primary Document Analysis - What is a primary document? - How can they be used in our study of History? Why are they so Important? - What are some of the questions we should be asking when we look at a document?

What we should be looking for in a Document: 1. Who produced it? 2. Why did they produce it? 3. When was it produced? 4. What does the document saying? 5. How does it relate to the event or time you are researching?

Analysing “Instructions and Communications” § For this assignment you will be reading the “Instructions and communications document and using the worksheet provided to analyse the document! §Please do not write on your copy of the document.