The National Policy and the Second Métis Uprising

Practice vocabulary flashcards reviewing the key economic measures, figures, and events of Canada's National Policy and the 1885 Second Métis Uprising.

Economic Crisis of 1873 (Crise économique de 1873)

A global economic crisis triggered by the collapse of several European stock exchanges, resulting in Canadian factory slowdowns, unemployment, bankruptcies, and the dumping of American manufactured goods below production cost.

National Policy of 1879 (Politique nationale de 1879)

An economic plan proposed by Prime Minister Macdonald during the 1878 elections to resolve the economic crisis through three pillars: increased customs tariffs, a transcontinental railway, and Western settlement.

Customs Tariff Increase

The federal government's policy of raising tariffs on American manufactured goods to $25\%$–$30\%$ to protect domestic industries, lower unemployment, encourage local purchases, and finance the transcontinental railway.

Canadian Pacific Railway (Le Canadien Pacifique)

The company mandated by the federal government to construct the transcontinental railway linking the provinces to British Columbia, completed in 1885.

Western Colonization (Colonisation des terres de l'Ouest)

A federal initiative offering free land to recruit immigrants who fulfilled two economic roles: agricultural producers of wheat and consumers of factory-made manufactured products.

Domestic Market (Marché intérieur)

A nationwide internal market that developed across Canada as the transcontinental railway connected the provinces and Western settlement grew the consumer base.

Batoche

A settlement in Saskatchewan where many Métis moved to escape European colonization in Manitoba, and where tensions culminated in an armed uprising in 1885.

Gabriel Dumont

A prominent bison hunter who represented the Métis and organized resistance against encroaching settlement and railway expansion in the West.

North-West Rebellion (Soulèvement du Nord-Ouest)

An 1885 armed uprising in Batoche where Métis and allied First Nations resisted the federal government over broken promises and the erosion of their rights.

Louis Riel

The Métis leader who returned from the United States in 1884 to lead the North-West Rebellion; he was convicted of high treason and hanged in November 1885 despite appeals from French Canadians.

Canadian Cultural Divide of 1885

The national division caused by Riel's trial and execution, in which English Canadians supported the federal government while French Canadians viewed Riel's death as suppression of Catholic and francophone rights.