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Rupert’s Land

The terms of a 1670 royal charter gave the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) exclusive commercial and settlement rights over the vast territory known as Rupert’s Land. The monopoly on the fur trade was contested by, in particular, independent traders and the North West Company. The mixed population, comprising whites, Métis, and various Indigenous groups, was scattered across the region. As time passed, there were growing fears of northward expansion by the United States, and the British authorities called upon the HBC to negotiate the sale of Rupert’s Land, which included the Red River colony, to Canada. An agreement setting the date of the transfer as 1 Dec. 1869 was signed without consulting those who lived there, which led to unrest in the colony.

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Other Resources

Canada A Country by Consent: Manitoba Joins Confederation: Rupert's Land
Canada Buys Rupert's Land
Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land and the North West : Digital Resources on Manitoba History
Fur Trade History | Ruperts Land , The University of Winnipeg
Manitoba History: Sovereignty and the Aboriginal Nations of Rupert’s Land
Part II: Rupert's Land Act, 1868 - Enactment No.1. Content archived on 18 Jan. 2024
Rupert's Land - Canada's History
Rupert's Land. Content archived on 26 Nov. 2019
Rupert's Land - Wikipedia
Rupert's Land | historical region, Canada | Britannica.com
The Rupert’s Land Act | Canadian Museum of History

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