Legacy
The Red River resistance was only described as a rebellion after sentiment grew in Ontario against the execution of Thomas Scott. Historian A.G. Morice suggests that the phrase "Red River Rebellion" owes its persistence to alliteration, a quality that made it attractive for publication in newspaper headlines (Critical History of The Red River Insurrection ). The word "resistance", though decidedly less dramatic, retains the alliterative character of the earlier phrase and is generally preferred by the majority of contemporary academic historians, as it more accurately describes the particulars of the political situation at the time.
In 1875, Riel was formally exiled from Canada for five years. Under pressure from Quebec, the government of Sir John A. Macdonald took no more vigorous action. Riel was elected to the Canadian parliament three times while in exile, but never took his seat. He returned to Canada in 1885 to lead the ill-fated North-West Rebellion. He was subsequently tried and convicted for high treason and executed by hanging.
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)