Reciprocity Treaty

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Pages: 6

Expiry of Trade agreement
The reciprocity treaty between the United States and British North America was severed in 1865 which ended the preferential trading activity between the two countries. At around the same time, British Empire was ready to let go of its colonies and make them self-sufficient which meant that Rupert’s land was soon going to be up for sale. Acquiring such a resource-rich land would provide booming opportunities for Americans as it would provide jobs, natural resources, food as well as a strategically beneficial extension to its Railways from Minnesota. The end of the Reciprocity Treaty heightened this need for securing this resource-rich land under its own belt. Influential personnel such as U.S treasury representative
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The tribe’s existence can be explained as a result of interactions between the European traders and the Indians of the Canadian Northwest areas. Historically the Métis haven’t been granted any titles by HBC, to the property that they had so long inhabited in near the Red River regions. Until the land sale in 1869, Hudson’s Bay company’s officials overlooked most of the judicial matters pertaining to the territory. Their approach to governing over Rupert’s Land resembled that of politico-economic government where the constitution was largely influenced by economic and commercial influences. Although the Métis abided by HBC’s policies to some extent, their interests or rights weren’t prioritised by the HBC’s governing bodies. Up until the Red River Rebellion, the Métis devised a form of community principles and regulations that their tribe would abide by and had practises inplace that would maintain order and peace in their community. Colonies, such at Rupert’s Land, were captured and exploited without considering the needs and issues of its population. This resulted in a tremendous power imbalance between the dominant powers of HBC and the non-dominating discourses emerging from the Métis population and soon this power struggle transferred itself onto to the Canadian government as being the new dominating