Thursday, December 9, 2010

Essay

Parker Phillips
Dec.7,2010

Riel was a very religious child, which is why he was educated by Roman Catholic Priests at St. Boniface. As Riel started to age and become more mature, he came to believe he should stick up for the Metis people. In act of standing up, when John A Macdonald ordered survey crews to the land of Red River, Riel brought together a " National Commitee. " This organization put a stop to the surveys and disallowed Mcdougalls presence of entering The red river. From there Riel gathered some Metis and took over the Hudson's Bay Trading Post ( Fort Garry.) When the word got back to the Canadians that the Metis did not allow them to survey The Red River they were furious and angry. The Canadians reacted by sending armed forces to try and take over Fort Garry, but those forces failed and everyone except for Thomas Scott was imprisoned. Instead, he was executed by a firing squad on March 4th 1870. Later Riel and his council sent all of the prisoners free, giving the Metis a horrible disadvantage when instead they could have executed them all. This was extremely unintelligent thinking on Riel's part.
A couple of years later Riel was fortunate enough to be elected a seat in Parliament. Although Riel clearly wanted to take his seat, he couldn't because if he took a step outside the Parliament buildings he would be arrested. Over all this confusion Louis David Riel had a nervous breakdown and was sent to the hospital at Loungue Pointe. Later Louis was forcefully transferred to the Beauport mental asylum. While Riel was locked up in this retched place he got into thinking that he had a religious mission to make North America Catholicism with the pope of the new world being Bishop Bourget. When living in the asylum Riel would never wear clothing. Three years later Louis David Riel was released from the mental institution that he was being held at. From there he journeyed to the United States, where he continued to educate young children and became engaged to a wonderful woman. In the Saskatchewan Valley, the Canadian Metis that live there were having problems with their Legal Rights, so they found Riel and asked of his assistance to assist with their conflict. He agreed to help them. On July 1884, the main settlement of Metis people ( Batoche) was reached by Louis and his family. Riel sent a harmless petition throughout the town acknowledging the Metis to sign it so it could be received by the federal government in Ottawa. While in Saskatchewan he kept seeing the execution of Thomas Scott in his mind which made him contemplate about his unorthodox religious views. Because of these horrible thoughts, he became extremely frustrated and started to take immediate action, by taking control of the Parish Church and trying to seize Fort Carlton with his many armed men.
In 1885, the mounted police of the north-west were created and the main railway to the west of Canada was almost finished. This allowed Canada to send men and provisions very fast unlike at the Red River rebellion where it took days for back up troops to arrive. While the battle was occurring Military commander Gabriel Dumont and Riel led the Metis to win many battles even though their weapons were weaker and the number of troops were quite smaller. Riel had strange visions and feelings that he was being controlled by god and Riel thought of himself of the " Prophet of the New World". Which explains why during many battles of great bloodshed, he would sit up tall on his trusty steed, holding a cross high in the sky praying for his life and his companions. Following the months of war Riel accepted defeat and was from then on known as the north-west rebellion. Later Louis David Riel was charged with treason. During Riels trial, his council announced to fight for him on the grounds of insanity, but he denied his insanity, making him guilty.
Riel was studied by four physicians. Three considered him excitable and one found him insane. On the day of November 16th, 1885 in Regina, Louis David Riel fulfilled his sentence execution and his body was sent to rest in the cemetery at St. Boniface. Once the news of Riel's death had been spread the Metis colonies had experienced depression on many occasions. It helped fortify French Canadian nationalism in central Canada. Over all of the things Louis Riel did to help the Metis people, the things he did to harm and disorient them came in much larger numbers such as bloodshed and death. Because of the numerous times this occurred Louis David Riel has held the title of a madman for years.

Bibliography

Websites:
Marsh, James H. "Riel, Louis." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006837>.
Demand Media. "Who Is Louis Riel?" Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://www.essortment.com/all/louisriel_rjrv.htm>.
Louis Riel was a lunatic who fought for the rights of the Metis people, yet made many crazy decisions that put peoples lives at risk. What really defines a person insane? The definition of insane is someone who's interests are at odds with society, and their own welfare. They can also no longer differentiate from what you and I know as right and wrong. Louis Riel, born October 22nd, 1844 at St. Boniface, later grew up to be what we consider today, a madman.

Louis David Riel

Thursday, October 14, 2010

ss aral sea

Aral Sea

    The Aral Sea is located in Kazakhstan and was one of the four largest lakes in the world and had an area of 68,000 km. Since the 1960s there has been a huge drop in the amount of water that it contains. The sea declined to 10% of it’s original sized in 2007. The canals and deltas have nearly been destroyed by the salinity of the water (the amount of salt in the water).
    The plains left from the dried sea are covered with toxic chemicals which are picked up by the wind and dropped in the surrounding areas. This has resulted in health problems such as lung cancer, digestive disorders, anaemia, and infectious diseases. The large amounts of salt left on the land is destroying crops and fields which is making it hard for the people in the surrounding areas to get food.
     This is the result in the draining of the Aral Sea and using the water for irrigation.

aral sea video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cELIxfs18aY&feature=related




Monday, October 4, 2010

socials test #1

What makes you Canadian?  How is your "Canadian-ness" shown in your daily life?  If you are not Canadian, think of the people you see around you everyday and apply these questions to them.  Write at least 150 words in your blog explaining how you or the people around you express Canadian-ness.  A one sentence answer will not do it here.  You may refer to any information on the class blog to support what you have to say.

   What makes me Canadian is well first off I was born here. Everyday I am around someone who was not born here but has imigrated here which makes me Canadian because Canada is multicultural. I talk with a Canadian accent not saying "eh" but I would sound different than someone in the US. In Canada everyone is safe from war and people overthrowing the goverment and taking over which makes me feel safe and allows me to go to school and do other activities. I am very peaceful and Canada is filled with peaceful / nice people. Canadians except people into their communty even if they are not from here and so do I. Free health care means alot to every Canadian because if they have a family member in need of operation or medical attention they can get it without paying for it. This is why I am Canadian. 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010