Louis Riel Needs Grant's Help (1875)

This Day in Esoteric Political History

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2023

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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It’s December 10th. This day in 1875, the Canadian Metis leader Louis Riel is in Washington, DC to ask US President Grant for assistance in his battle against the Canadian government.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the Metis fight, violence along the western parts of the US-Canadian border, and Riel’s subsequent religious “epiphany.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.
0:06.7	My name is Jody Avergan.
0:08.4	This day, December 1875, a man by the name of Louis Riel, the father of the Meti Nation,
0:18.4	traveled to Washington, D.C. from Canada and asked President Grant for financial and logistical support in his
0:25.4	war against the Canadian government. So folks there is a sentence that is loaded
0:30.4	with all sorts of interesting backstory and other tidbits.
0:34.0	So we have the father of an indigenous group, the medi, coming to the United States, which is
0:39.5	just looking at its wounds from the Civil War.
0:41.9	And Riel, this man is asking for support in his own
0:44.3	fight against the Canadian government that is just getting its footing as well.
0:47.4	Canada was granted autonomy from Britain just about a decade before so So two countries on very shaky territory,
0:54.3	the Western frontier border disputes, and not to mention that we have the guy at the
0:58.8	center of this all who while on his trip to Washington DC to ask for support from Grant starts to undergo a bit of a religious,
1:06.8	I don't know what to call it, epiphany or Messiah complex or possibly losing his marbles?
1:12.4	I don't know. Let's, let's get into it though. Here, as I'm. are possibly losing his marbles?
1:12.5	I don't know.
1:13.5	Let's get into it though.
1:14.4	Here, as always, we call Hammer of Vanderbilt
1:16.9	and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.
1:19.2	Hello there.
1:20.0	Hello Jody.
1:21.1	Hey there.
	...

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