Acadian: Encyclopedia II - Acadian - History

Acadian - History

During the 17th century, about 100 French families were established in Acadia. The Acadians avoided the disputes between the French and the British and became known as the "neutral French." They developed friendly relations with the aboriginal Mi'kmaq, learning their hunting and fishing techniques.

The Acadians became British subjects when France ceded Acadia by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and Acadia became known as Nova Scotia ("New Scotland"). When the French and Indian War began in 1754, the British government, doubting the neutrality of the Acadians, demanded that they take an oath of allegiance to the British monarch. Since the oath required renouncing a key article of the Acadians' Roman Catholic faith, most refused.

An Acadian delegation came to Halifax in 1755 with a petition to present to the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, Colonel Charles Lawrence. Lawrence demanded that they take the oath of allegiance; the petitioners refused and Lawrence had them imprisoned. Under pressure from the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the British admiral in Halifax, Lawrence ordered the mass ethnic cleansing of Acadians despite earlier cautions from British authorities against drastic action.

In what is known as the Great Expulsion (Grand Dérangement), about 10,000 Acadians (three-fourths of the Acadian population in Nova Scotia) were expelled from the colony between 1755 and 1764. The British destroyed around 6000 Acadian houses and dispersed the Acadians among the 13 colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia. Although there were no purposeful attempts to separate families, this did occur in the chaos of the eviction. The British attempted to send members of the same community to different colonies to impose assimilation.

Some Acadians escaped into the woods and lived with the Mi'kmaqs, escaping expulsion.

Massachusetts passed a law in November 1755 placing the Acadians under the custody of "justices of the peace and overseers of the poor"; Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut adopted similar laws. The Province of Virginia under Robert Dinwiddie initially agreed to resettle about 1000 Acadians that arrived in the colony but later ordered them deported most them to England, writing that the "French people" were "intestine enemies" that were "mudr'g and scalp'g our frontier settlers."

In 1764, the war was over, and the Acadians were allowed to return to Nova Scotia as long as they did not settle in any one area in large numbers. Some Acadians resettled along the Nova Scotia coast and remain scattered across Nova Scotia to this day.

Other Acadians were deported to France, especially in the slums of Nantes and on Belle-Isle off Brittany. The French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon near Newfoundland became a safe harbor for many Acadian families until they were once again deported by the British in 1778 and 1793.

In 2003, at the request of Acadian representatives, Queen Elizabeth II, acting as the Canadian monarch, issued a proclamation officially acknowledging the deportation and establishing July 28 as a day of commemoration. The day of commemoration is observed by the Canadian government, as the successor of the British Government.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki