The Riel Rebellion of 1869: New Light on British Liberals and the Use of Force on the Canadian Frontier

Abstract

Within the context of the colonial policy of the first Gladstone government in Great Britain, the Riel Rebellion in the Red River Colony on the Manitoba frontier in 1869 offers a case study in the nature of late nineteenth-century British imperialism. The incident has usually been treated within Canadian history as part of the story of western expansion, or as an example of the continuous thread of Anglo-French tension within the Canadian union. However, this confrontation raised strategic imperial considerations and issues of race and social control to which London authorities felt compelled to respond. This paper offers a reinterpretation of the motives and forces behind the British decision to deploy imperial troops to end the Red River disorders at a time when official policy was set to withdraw British garrisons from Canada and other self-governing colonies. This re-examination offers evidence that London authorities needed little Canadian prodding. Rather, the pattern that emerges shows a consistent Liberal commitment to empire and a continuing belief in the empire’s strategic and prestige value to Britain in world politics.