Acadian and the Expulsion of the Acadians

Early Acadia Acadia was founded in 1605 with the settlement at Port Royal. Port-Royal (near ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, Nova Scotia) was established in the summer of 1605 on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin near the mouth of the Annapolis River by a French colonizing expedition led by Pierre du Gua de MONTS and Samuel de CHAMPLAIN.

Port Royal

Port Royal

Acadia isolation from France required that the Acadian people develop a sophisticated farming culture in order to survive on their own.

Acadian Farming There was little that influenced the development of the Acadian way of life quite as much as their method of farming. Fortunately, among the people who settled in the Annapolis Basin area, there were some who were already familiar with methods of dyking practiced in France, and they recognized the agricultural potential of the tidal salt marshes. (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/arch/infos/infoaca2.htm)

The new settlers moved quickly to build dykes along the outer marsh areas. Sometimes these dykes were built by driving five or six rows of logs into the ground, laying other logs one on top of the other between these rows, filling all the spaces between the logs with well packed clay and then covering everything over with sods cut from the marsh itself. Sometimes dykes were built by simply laying marsh sods over mounds of earth.

The Acadians devised a system of drainage ditches combined with an ingenious one-way water gate called an aboiteau. The aboiteau was a hinged valve in the dyke which allowed fresh water to run off the marshes at low tide but which prevented salt water from flowing onto the dyked farmland as the tide rose. After letting snow and rain wash away the salt from the marshes for between two and four years the Acadians were left with fertile soil which yielded abundant crops.

Acadian Dykes

Ownership of Acadia Over the span of 100 years the ownership of Acadia bounced back and forth between British and French rule. Port Royal was captured for the last time by the British in 1710 and the region was named Nova Scotia. The Acadians lived successfully under British rule for 45 years.

The Acadian Expulsion In early 1755 the Acadian Deputies were summoned to Halifax by Governor Lawrence and ordered to swear an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. They refused, contending, as they had with Cornwallis in 1749, that if they did so the French would set the Indians against them and they would be massacred. The English lost no time in responding. On July 28, 1755 Lawrence got the full approval of Nova Scotia's Colonial Council to start dispersing the Acadians among the American Colonies.

Acadian Expulsion Con’t. They were loaded into the holds of ships and scattered to the four corners of the world. Families were separated, never to see one another again, and untold numbers died in transport. This included those who had sworn allegiance to the British Crown, there were no exceptions. http://www.danielnpaul.com/AcadienExpulsion-1755.html

Questions on the Acadian expulsion 1. Why did the British order the French speaking Acadian settlers out of Nova Scotia? 2. Where were people ordered to meet of Friday the 5th at 3:00? 3. What possessions were forfeited to the crown? 4. What happened to 1/3 of the Acadian deported? 5. How many Acadians were shipped to the British Colonies? 6. Where are many of the Acadian relocated? What do they change their name to? 7. How many French families remained in Acadia after the deportation?

Acadian Expulsion