Acadians - Pre-Deportation History

Pre-Deportation History

During the 17th century, about sixty French families were established in Acadia. They developed friendly relations with the Wabanaki Confederacy (particularly the Mi'kmaq), learning their hunting and fishing techniques. The Acadians lived mainly in the coastal regions of the Bay of Fundy; farming land reclaimed from the sea through diking. Living in a contested borderland region between French and British territories, the Acadians found themselves often entangled in the conflict between the powers. Over a period of seventy-four years, there were six wars in Acadia and Nova Scotia in which the Confederacy and some Acadians fought to keep the British from taking over the region (See the four French and Indian Wars as well as Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War). While France lost political control of Acadia in 1710, the Mí'kmaq did not concede land to the British. Along with some Acadians, the Mi'kmaq used military force to resist the founding of British (Protestant) settlements by making numerous raids on Halifax, Dartmouth, Lawrencetown and Lunenburg. During the French and Indian War, the Mi'kmaq assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion of the Acadians.

The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next forty-five years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour. During the French and Indian War, the British sought to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia.

Many Acadians might have signed an unconditional oath to the British monarchy had the circumstances been better, while other Acadians did not sign because they were clearly anti-British. For the Acadians who might have signed an unconditional oath, there were numerous reasons why they did not. The difficulty was partly religious, in that the British monarch was the head of the (Protestant) Church of England. Another significant issue was that an oath might commit male Acadians to fight against France during wartime. A related concern was whether their Mi'kmaq neighbours might perceive this as acknowledging the British claim to Acadia rather than the Mi'kmaq. As a result, signing an unconditional oath might have put Acadian villages in dangers of attack from Mi'kmaq.

In the Great Expulsion (le Grand Dérangement), beginning in August 1755 under Lieutenant Governor Lawrence, approximately 11,500 Acadians (three-quarters of the Acadian population in Nova Scotia) were expelled, their lands and property confiscated, and in some cases their homes burned. The Acadians were deported throughout the British eastern seaboard colonies from New England to Georgia. Although measures were taken during the embarkation of the Acadians to the transport ship, some families became split up. Thousands were transported to France. Most of the Acadians who went to Louisiana were transported there from France on 5 Spanish ships provided by the Spanish Crown to populate their Louisiana colony and provide farmers to supply New Orleans. The Spanish had hired agents to seek out the dispossessed Acadians in Brittany and the effort was kept secret so as not to anger the French King. These new arrivals from France joined the earlier wave expelled from Acadia, creating the Cajun population and culture. The Spanish forced the Acadians they had transported to settle along the Mississippi River, to block British expansion, rather than Western Louisiana where many of them had family and friends and where it was much easier to farm. Rebels among them attacked New Orleans and killed the Spanish governor. The Spanish later sent infantry from other colonies to put down the rebellion and execute the leaders.

A second and smaller expulsion occurred when the British took control of the North Shore of what is now New Brunswick. After the fall of Quebec the British lost interest and many Acadians returned to British North America, settling in coastal villages not occupied by American colonists. A few of these had evaded the British for several years but the brutal winter weather eventually forced them to surrender. Some returnees settled in the region of Fort Sainte-Anne, now Fredericton, but were later displaced by the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolution.

In 2003, at the request of Acadian representatives, Elizabeth II issued a Royal Proclamation acknowledging the deportation and establishing July 28 as an annual day of commemoration, beginning in 2005. The day is called the "Great Upheaval" on some English-language calendars.