| Over the next few days and weeks following Sept
5th, 1755, Acadians throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were arrested, their lands
and livestock seized, and their villages burned. Many resisted and though ill-equipped and
inexperienced, fought back as best they could. On the 27th of October, a fleet of 14 ships
left Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with 6500 Acadian prisoners aboard. The British ships
were not well supplied for such an exodus, an estimated 20% died aboard-ship, their bodies
thrown overboard. Several thousand were scattered throughout the southern US,
Caribbean, and South America, but many ports would not accept their prisoners, most of
whom were starving and sick. Those ships who could not find ports to unload their
prisoners traversed the Atlantic where another 50% died of disease and hunger before
reaching England. Those who survived went to France and then to Louisiana which was a
French colony. Everywhere the Acadians went, they were treated as outcasts, and some
states banished them outright. They spoke a different language, had a different religion,
and were descendant from the French who were almost considered a natural enemy to the
English, so many were given a hard time wherever they went. In order to survive, many
changed their names (LeBlanc became White, etc.).
Some of the Acadians who resisted the expulsion waged guerilla warfare against the
British and often joining with the Indians. Throughout the region, the British put prices
on the heads of the renegades but many were never captured. For years, the deportations
continued until only a small fraction of over 15000 Acadians remained, most in hiding
(though some found refuge on Prince Edward Island).
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the French-British war, and the Acadians were
allowed to come back (if they still wanted to), provided they pledged loyalty to England
and would settle the more inhospitable land. To the Acadians, Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick was still home, and many made their way on foot from as far away as Georgia and
Louisiana, although some made new homes for themselves in Louisiana. For the next several
decades, the Acadians were still periodically subjected to ill treatment, and they were
sometimes forced off their new lands to make room for British citizens.
Ultimately, the Acadians persevered and today number 250 thousand in Canada alone, most
in the Maritime Provinces. Nova Scotia's only French-language University (Université
Sainte- Anne) is in the heart of Nova Scotia's "French Shore", a region along
the Bay of Fundy populated by descendants of Acadians forced into exile centuries ago. The
Acadians who remained in Louisiana also became successful, and today are known as Cajuns
(say "Acadian" a little quick and pronounce the "dian" as
"jun" and you'll see were the name came "Cajun" came from). |
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