The 49th parallel is a line of latitude at 49 degrees north, which was used to draw the boundary between Canada and the United States. Because it’s a latitude line, it runs roughly east-west, creating a straight border across much of the continent from the Rocky Mountains toward the Pacific. It isn’t a boundary along a coast, and it isn’t a north-south line through the center of Canada. The Oregon Treaty helped establish this border along that parallel in the western portion, with some adjustments near the Pacific coast. In short, it’s the straight border between Canada and the United States.

The key idea is that leverage from owning a powerful fur-trading company could be turned into land rights for settlement. Thomas Douglas, the Earl of Selkirk, used the influence that came with his Hudson’s Bay Company shares to press for a grant of land in Rupert’s Land along the Red River valley. Britain had denied him a direct land grant, so he tapped into the HBC’s authority and colonial networks to secure permission from the Crown for a large tract of land there. That move led to the creation of the Red River Colony, a settlement project tied to his goal of establishing a Scottish community in that region. The other options don’t fit his actual aims or actions, which were centered on settling and organizing land in the Red River Valley rather than expanding a law practice, building a fleet, or funding a university.

Blitzkrieg tests your understanding of a German term used to describe a fast, decisive style of warfare. Blitzkrieg literally combines blitz meaning lightning and krieg meaning war, so the English translation is Lightning War. This name fits because the tactic aims to strike with extraordinary speed and surprise—using air power, armored units, and rapid infantry advances to break through enemy defenses before they can respond. The other options don’t capture that imagery: they don’t convey the intense speed and electric immediacy that blitzkrieg implies, and they would mislead about the nature of the strategy (for example, suggesting nighttime fighting or merely a sudden but not fast campaign).

Louis Riel stood at the center of the Métis resistance as their political leader and spokesperson. In Red River, he organized a provisional government to defend Métis land rights, language, and civil protections, and he articulated the community’s demands to the Canadian authorities, pushing for a negotiated path for Manitoba’s entry into Confederation. His role was about leadership, diplomacy, and uniting Métis communities around a political cause, not simply observing from the sidelines. While there were moments of military action in defense, his main contribution was steering the political effort and representing Métis interests to the outside world. He did not serve as a translator for British authorities.