The Expulsion of the Acadians

The Great Upheaval- the deportation of the Acadians


Canada was the New World and yet the insanity of the age old rivalries, prejudices and stereotypes followed the settlers here. When the Europeans brought their old war to this continent, people who had never seen France or England suffered the consequences. One example is the expulsion of the French speaking inhabitants of Nova Scotia.

When the British won the battle over the territory, they took over Nova Scotia and tried to force the inhabitants to swear and unconditional oath of loyalty to the crown of England. The Acadians' resisted for they were usesd to living as free men without interference of the European establishment. Many had intermarried with the Mik'mak tribes of Native Canadians and so did not consider themselves anything other than free men. Because the Mi'kmaq would not declare themselves British subjects and used armed resistance against the British occupation and settlement of Acadia, numerous proclamations were issued by Governors Paul Mascarene (1744), by Edward Cornwallis (1749), and, during the Expulsion, by Charles Lawrence (1756).

Even after France conceded present day mainland Nova Scotia to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Acadians resisted the British occupation politically by refusing to become unconditional subjects of Britain (1730). Various historians have observed that, while many Acadians may have seemed "neutral", many were not. From 1750-52, there was massive Acadian migration out of British occupied mainland Nova Scotia and into French occupied New Brunswick, PEI and Cape Breton.

Acadians numbering in the thousands were deported from mainland Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The deportees frequently were held onboard ships for several weeks before being moved to their destinations, thus exacerbating unhealthy conditions below decks and leading to the deaths of hundreds. Many hundreds more were lost through ship sinkings and disease onboard ships while enroute to ports in Britains American colonies, Britain and France. Britain also broke apart families and sent them to different places. Their justification for this was to more efficiently put people on the boats. This resulted in more loss of life as families could not survive without essential members. It also caused the Acadians to become more rebellious against the English. Many of the Acadians ended up in Louisianna and became the people we know today as the Cajuns.

The Acadian Expulsion