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The Kingdom of Canada, 1870
Parts 1 and 2 by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what if the Confederation of Canada had never happened? Please
note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the
views of the author(s).
June 23rd, on
this day the somewhat appropriately named 26th US Secretary of State
Hamilton Fish (pictured) signed the Rupert's Land and North-Western
Territory Order purchasing a staggering fifteen percent of the land mass of
North America from the Hudson Bay Company (HBC).
Manitoba joins the UnionAt the price of a mere $1.5m the incorporation of
the new State of Manitoba (trans "Great Spirit") was the biggest real estate
in human history, even bigger than the purchases of Louisiana and Alaska.
The fact that the United States and Great Britain were involved in a rather
distasteful land grab became clear when Alaska was purchased from Russia the
very next day after Queen Victoria signed the British North America Act.
Predicting American success, the architect of the Alaskan purchase, W.H.
Seward had complemented Canadian colonists for their hard work "It is very
well, you are building excellent states to be hereafter admitted to the
American Union". It was a threat fully understood by the 1st Prime Minister
of Canada John A. MacDonald "The Americans are resolved to do all they can,
short of war, to get possession of our western territory, and we must take
immediate and vigourous steps to counteract them".
Unfortunately for MacDonald, the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest who
greatly outnumbered the settlers discovered that the HBC was about to sell
of its vast holdings. Led by a young man called Louis Riel, the Métis seized
the HBC trading post at Upper Fort Garry and declared a provisional
government. Before long, American annexationalists had persuaded the Métis
to ditch Canada and join the United States.
December 7th, on this day
British troops under the command of Colonel Garnet Wolseley fired the first
shots in the third war between United States and Great Britain, a volley of
bullets which executed "the Father of Manitoba" Louis Riel at Upper Fort
Garry.
Red River RebellionWolseley's men had endured a long, rough overland slog
and were in no mood to be generous. Charged with seizing Manitoba back from
the Métis separists who had engineered an annexation by the United States,
their mission required the creation of a second French-Canadian stronghold.
This desired outcome was somewhat ironic given the circumstances. Because
during the approval of the British North America Act three years before,
serious consideration had been given to renaming the new nation the "The
Kingdom of Canada", an option proposed by Canadian Prime Minister John A.
Macdonald which had been dismissed largely because it would provoke the
Americans
Author
says to view guest historian's comments on this post please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site for
Part 1 and
Part 2.
Other Contemporary Stories
Steve Payne, Editor of
Today in Alternate History, a Daily
Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
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Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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