Red River Resistance

Red River Resistance

Red River Resistance
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.33

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		determined, formally, legislature, ownership, provisional, well-established, disrupt, union, representation, federal, prime, agreement, parliament, presented, negotiate, directly
	content words:		River Resistance, Selkirk Settlement, United States, Bay Company, William McDougall, Prime Minister Macdonald, Louis Riel, On November, North Dakota, Fort Garry

Print Red River Resistance

Print Red River Resistance (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Red River Resistance

Leave your feedback on Red River Resistance (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Red River Resistance
By Mary Lynn Bushong

¹     Red River Resistance

²     It was about fifty years after the Selkirk Settlement had been started. The thirteen Scottish families who had stayed were now well-established in the area. There was also a large population of Métis living in the area.

³     During this time (1860's) many new people were moving into the area. Most were English-speakers from Ontario. A few were from the United States.

⁴     Many of the new people were hostile to the Métis and their culture. The scene was set for a confrontation between the people.

⁵     After Confederation, the Canadian government began negotiations to buy Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company. An agreement was reached in 1868, with the transfer of ownership to occur in 1869.

⁶     Surveyors were sent out to divide the land before the transfer was complete. The man who would be governor, William McDougall, was in charge of them. He had no use for the Métis. The French feared that he would disregard the property arrangements that were based on the seigneurial system.

⁷     Prime Minister Macdonald was warned that sending McDougall could cause problems. McDougall was sent any way. The Métis saw this as a threat to their way of life.

⁸     Louis Riel emerged as a leader at this time. He and others began to disrupt the survey team.

⁹     McDougall had not arrived yet, and Riel told him to stay away. On November 2, 1869, a group of Métis forced McDougall south to North Dakota. Then some 400 Métis seized Fort Garry near the settlement and occupied it.

Paragraphs 10 to 18:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Copyright © 2009 edHelper