What was the significance of the 1869 purchase of Rupert's Land?

• A. It dissolved the North-West Territories.
• B. It created the province of Ontario.
• C. It granted independence to the Western territories.
• D. It allowed Manitoba to become a province and established the North-West Territories.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that acquiring Rupert's Land gave Canada direct control over a vast western region, creating the framework to bring those lands into Confederation. With Rupert's Land under federal authority, the new government could organize settlement and governance in the West and integrate it into the country. This set the stage for Manitoba to become a province in 1870 and for the North-West Territories to be established to administer the western lands. The other options don’t fit because the purchase did not dissolve the North-West Territories, Ontario was already a province, and it did not grant independence to western territories; it brought them under Canada’s federal governance.