NationStates Jolt Archive

I just saw alot of stuff around involving big news subjects. Quebec seperating from Canada, India-US partnerships, and the myriad of stuff about religion/homosexuality. So, I thought I'd bring something "different" in for a change. A chance for the Canadians and "Cajuns" on this forum to learn something important from their history, and for the rest of you to just learn something.

The deportation of the Acadians from L'Acadie (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).

In 1605 CE the one of the earliest permanant settlements in North America was built at a place named Port Royal, in the Anapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. Settled by the French in the area they named "L'Acadie". The inhabitants made good relations with the native peoples of the area (The Mi'kmaq) and began fur trading.
In 1613, a British expidition from the Virginia colony arived in the Anapolis Valley and ransacked the Port Royal Settlement while most of the inhabitants were out farming, huntng, and trading. Thatks to good ties with the Mi'kmaq in the area however, the settelers managed to survive until a relief ship could come in 1614.
Over the next decades, as England and France fought over North America, the French settelers in L'Acadie managed to grow into a sustainable culture, living peacefully with the natives and with the British. The Acadian settlements were postsioned in the best farmlands of the area, using dykes to control the water in the marshlands that they lived off of.
As the fighting went on between the British and French, the Acadians remained neutral, promising never to take up armes for either side, or to join either side in the conflict. For over a century the Acadians managed to live in peace in the now British areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In 1754 Major Charles Lawrence, the British Govonor in Nova Scotia, told the Acadians that they had to sign an oath of allegiance to the King of England, and renounce their Roman Catholic traditions for Anglican ones. Lawrence did so without the permission, or knowladge of the British government, thus making the act illegal. When the Acadians refused to do so, in 1755, Majo Lawrence had them rounded up, often without warning from town meetings or Churches, and deported. Lawrence imediatly seized all the land and assets of the former Acadian settelers, dividing them up amongst British subjects in the area.
When they acadians were expelled, they were split up, familes were sent in many directions, children seperated from their parents. Some went back to Frnce, but were unwelecome, some went to England and were arested. Many went to Spanish colonies in North America, specificly Louisiana, where the Spanish welecomed them as a counter to nearby English settlements. Still small numbers were sent to the Carribean, to the Carolinas (Where subsequently many were forced into near slavery on plantations), and a small number managed to return to L'Acadie, or escape the deportation through hiding.

Since then the Acadians have been homeless, and split up. Familes are spread over thousands of miles, and many years. The Acadian people have endured persecution from everywhere. As the Cajuns (Acadian descendants in Louisiana) have endured persecution for their way of life, the Acadians still in Nova Scotia have endured persecution for their way of life, language, and beliefs.
Apparently, still in Nova Scotia law books, is the Acadian deportation order, still in effect, abthough completely illegal.
Even so, in 2004 the World Acadian Congress, a group commited to Acadian history and culture, held the first gathering of Acadian familes in L'Acadie (Nova Scotia) since the deportation.

Ipost this to bring to you all a question. Was the expulsion of the Acadians fair? Was it unjust? What are your thoughts or oppnions?
As a descendant of the Acadian culture, and lifetime resident of Nova Scotia, I would like to know what other people think of this. What Cajun's think, other Canadians, Europeans, or even regula Americans.

I think my bf said his mom is acadian, but she's from New Brunswick... perhaps it's just the manner in which she speaks french, apparantly it gets her funny looks in Quebec... anyways...

That's pretty damn shitty. The british weren't really so nice with the whole colonization thing.

Addendum:

Out of 14,000 Acadians, 4,000 died while being deported on overcrowded ships or because of hardship. Since only men were deported, it means that most of the Acadian women had to remarry with English officers. Villages were destroyed, Catholic churches were burnt to the ground.

Most of the Micmacs were massacred, as well as some peaceful Abenakis. The surviving Micmacs fleed to Quebec. (Abenakis would become fierce fighters later on.)

When some Acadian men came back 10 years later, Nova Scotia wasn't Acadie anymore: all the land had been seized and redistributed to English and Irish settlers. The Acadians reinstalled themselves in New Brunswick. Where the Acadian community has survived till today.

Unjust, but unfortunatly this happened over 240 years ago. Still, I'm surprised it's still law in Nova Scotia...

I think my bf said his mom is acadian, but she's from New Brunswick... perhaps it's just the manner in which she speaks french, apparantly it gets her funny looks in Quebec... anyways...

That's pretty damn shitty. The british weren't really so nice with the whole colonization thing.
They were less oppressive than the French or Belgians though. If you had to be colonized by somebody, the British were the least horrible.

The Acadians reinstalled themselves in New Brunswick. Where the Acadian community has survived till today.
Well, that would explain it.

They were less oppressive than the French or Belgians though. If you had to be colonized by somebody, the British were the least horrible.
Well. in North America, the French settlers didn't go to war against Indians (like British did). They didn't massacre Indians. They allied with Hurons, Micmacs, Abenakis. They signed peace treaties, the most famous being the "Peace of the Braves" in 1701, which made allies out of the fierce Iroquois. From this point, the French were allied with ALL the Indian nations of the north-east. This made the English nervous.

Addendum:

Out of 14,000 Acadians, 4,000 died while being deported on overcrowded ships or because of hardship. Since only men were deported, it means that most of the Acadian women had to remarry with English officers. Villages were destroyed, Catholic churches were burnt to the ground.

Most of the Micmacs were massacred, as well as some peaceful Abenakis. The surviving Micmacs fleed to Quebec. (Abenakis would become fierce fighters later on.)

When some Acadian men came back 10 years later, Nova Scotia wasn't Acadie anymore: all the land had been seized and redistributed to English and Irish settlers. The Acadians reinstalled themselves in New Brunswick. Where the Acadian community has survived till today.


I hate to know where you got your facts. The Acadians were deported en mass, men women and children. Many of the Acadians who returned didn;t return for 15 to 20 years, and they were forced to settle in the current French communities of Nova Scotia and New Brunswic (Pubnico, and Metagen to name 2). Irish settlers got areas in Cape Breton many of which were not previously inhabited. The Abenakis however were massacred in the New England colonies, which were not part of L'Acadie, and the Mi'kmaq were not massacred, they were pushed into reservations and forced to the life they live now.
The Acadian community in New Brunswic is the same as it is in Nova Scotia, small and barely able to keep itself alive. But it still fights on.

Well. in North America, the French settlers didn't go to war against Indians (like British did). They didn't massacre Indians. They allied with Hurons, Micmacs, Abenakis. They signed peace treaties, the most famous being the "Peace of the Braves" in 1701, which made allies out of the fierce Iroquois. From this point, the French were allied with ALL the Indian nations of the north-east. This made the English nervous.
The French were much more brutal in Africa. Algiers comes to mind. Read Franz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. But both sides allied with different Native groups, and attacked those allied with the other side.

The French were much more brutal in Africa. Algiers comes to mind. Read Franz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. But both sides allied with different Native groups, and attacked those allied with the other side.
Yes, you are totally right about that. Plus, they were slave traders for some time.

But as a French Canadian, I don't feel any link to these events. I don't feel "ethnically French" at all. In fact, most Quebecois don't get along very well with French people. (They make fun of our accent, dislike our food, expect to become Emperor of Quebec, and hate about everything here.)

So the only experience I have about colonialism is through my national and familial history. And in this case, for some obscure reasons, the French have been fair players most of the times.

To end the "I'd rather be colonized by..." off-topicness, all Colonizers sucked, and being colonized wasn't good in any situation. In Africa, the French would screw ye over. In South America, the Spanish. In North America, the British.

Yes, you are totally right about that. Plus, they were slave traders for some time.

But as a French Canadian, I don't feel any link to these events. I don't feel "ethnically French" at all. In fact, most Quebecois don't get along very well with French people. (They make fun of our accent, dislike our food, expect to become Emperor of Quebec, and hate about everything here.)

So the only experience I have about colonialism is through my national and familial history. And in this case, for some obscure reasons, the French have been fair players most of the times.
Fair enough. Besides discussing who was the worst colonizer is kind of pointless.

perhaps it's just the manner in which she speaks french, apparantly it gets her funny looks in Quebec...

IMO, Acadian have a funny but delightful accent

IMO, Acadian have a funny but delightful accent


I don't suppose you've ever met anyone from Pubnico?
Where they speak French with a weird English accent, and speak English with a weird French accent. It is really ammusing.

In 1613, a British expidition from the Virginia colony arived in the Anapolis Valley and ransacked the Port Royal Settlement...
Over the next decades, as England and France fought over North America, the French settelers in L'Acadie managed to grow into a sustainable culture, living peacefully with the natives and with the British. The Acadian settlements were postsioned in the best farmlands of the area, using dykes to control the water in the marshlands that they lived off of.
As the fighting went on between the British and French, the Acadians remained neutral, promising never to take up armes for either side, or to join either side in the conflict. For over a century the Acadians managed to live in peace in the now British areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In 1754.... *snip

I would like to know what other people think of this.You would like to know what do I think?

I think you were attacked by the Brits...and pussied out... choose to stay neutral !!!

I say if the Brits are leaning on you...you gotta fight back...if the BIG-BAD-empire is stepping over you and your family...you gotta fight back...

I say better take down a few of the red jackets and die figthing ... but the Accadians chosed to surrender and eventually they sent you to die on a boat...and they give your wife and children to a Brit soldier.

The French acadians chose not to fight...and to pay tribute to the Brits...for 140 years!!!... while other French were fighting...killing and getting killed.

your people gave up their freedom and their culture to the Brits...eventually they gave their land and their wives...

I voted for the second poll option...
what can I say?
I feel sorry for you...
what is left of your people?
what is left of your culture?
what is the accadian Legacy?

The Acadian community in New Brunswick is the same as it is in Nova Scotia, small and barely able to keep itself alive. But it still fights on.
Well in southern Nova Scotia (Cape Saint Mary area) the community can be considered extinct. Elsewhere in Nova Scotia I don't know (I've never been north of Amherst).

But in New Brunswick, it's quite alive. They have the Moncton university (a friend of mine teaches there -- he's a real African), the province is officially bilingual, and they keep recruiting Quebecois professionnals (doctors, teachers) all the time!!

About the deportation, I've checked my sources and my numbers were wrong -- not high enough, in fact. Though I'm sure the British killed more men than women. Why killing these civilians anyway??? They were peasants and fishermen, families.

""(...)Les membres du Conseil, dont le président est alors Charles Lawrence, rejettent toute perspective de tolérance envers les Acadiens et, le 28 juillet 1755, décident de les exproprier et de les expulser. Environ 7 000 Acadiens sont alors rassemblés et embarqués sur des bateaux vers les colonies anglaises de la côte atlantique; 2 000 à 3 000 autres subissent le même sort jusqu'en 1762. La déportation cause de nombreuses morts, que ce soit à cause des maladies, des épidémies, des déplacements ou des conditions pénibles de l'exil.""

Here's my rough translation:

""Council members, whose president was then Charles Lawrence, rejected any possibility of tolerated the presence of Acadiens. On July 28, 1755, they decided to expropriate and then deport them. Around 7,000 Acadiens were then massed on the shore and forcefully embarqued on boats, towards English colonies of the Atlantic coast. 2,000 to 3,000 others were deported in a similar manner until 1762. The deportation caused deaths, either because of disease, transport, or hardship during the exile""

Another source:
""À peu près, la moitié des 15000 à 16000 d'Acadiens sont morts de maladie, de noyade, de misère, et de faim.""

Rough translation:

""About half of the 15,000 to 16,000 Acadiens died of disease, drowning, hardship of hunger.""

Killing half of a nation... it's a bit like Pol Pot, isn't it?

...

Pubnico?

The one's I know came from New-Brunswick and Nova-Scotia (Chétican)

Unjust, although if it hadn't happened I'd be some kind of Quebecois redneck, so I guess it was for the best.

Pubnico?

The one's I know came from New-Brunswick and Nova-Scotia (Chétican)

Forgive the poor quality of the map.
Pubnico is a community in Souther Nova Scotia, one that managed to somehow escape the exportation.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/Dostanuot/750x750_novascotia_m.gif
The part encircled in a thin blue line, is the current area occupied by the Acadian Descendants, including the 2 communities I know most. Labled are Pubnico, and Metagan (I also added Port Royal in there). Between Hampton and Truro is where they use to inhabit before the deportation.

The part encircled in a thin blue line, is the current area occupied by the Acadian Descendants, including the 2 communities I know most. Labled are Pubnico, and Metagan (I also added Port Royal in there). Between Hampton and Truro is where they use to inhabit before the deportation.
I've been to Metegan, visited every single village up to Annapolis.
There's really not much left of the Acadian culture there, sadly. All the young people I've met were speaking only in English, they wouldn't even understand French. So basically, as the grandpas and grandmas die, so does the Acadian culture of Nova Scotia. :(
It will become another New Orleans.

But I've seen a different situation in New Brunswick: the Acadian culture is THRIVING, from Caraquet to Moncton.

A question to the Canadians: how would you characterize the modern Acadian culture in simple terms? How do they differ from English nearby? Basically just describe, if you would, for an American.

I enjoy fiddle music, so I am somewhat familiar with the musical aspect of the culture?

Of course it's a damn tragedy what happened. Words can't express.

You would like to know what do I think?

I think you were attacked by the Brits...and pussied out... choose to stay neutral !!!

The Acadians the were eventually deported weren't French by anything other than language and where they could trace their furthest roots. Nor were they at all British. They were Acadians and had their unique way of life, the land they have been on for generations, and that way where they wanted to stay, with no part in any war.

The Expulsion of the Acadians was unjust, though one can see the reasoning behind. Especially, if I remember some tidbit from history, since there may have been some bands of Acadians that fought the British. However, this was no excuse to deport an entire culture from their homeland.

The Acadians the were eventually deported weren't French LOL...they were not French???

OK lets say they were chinese or Italians :rolleyes:

...still they were attacked by the Brits...and refused to figth back...

LOL...they were not French???

OK lets say they were chinese or Italians :rolleyes:

...still they were attacked by the Brits...and refused to figth back...


No they wern't attacked by the British. They were rounded up and deported without warning. Think of the holocaust, what Hitler did to the Jews, but with the Jews being deported instead of gasses.

Sarkasis: My family is from Metagan, and they all speak both English and French. Except me, since I'm more English then French anyway. You must have gotten there durring tourist season, or tried to speak to some of the kids from Yarmouth.
The odd thing is, that as each generation of Acadians gets older, they get more interested in their history. My mother is nearing the half century mark, and has really gotten into it, whereas 10 years ago she didn't care. Same with my uncles, aunts, and other people I know of that age group.