Acadian Deportation

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Acadian Deportation

• Far Asunder, on separate coasts, the Acadians
  landedFriendless, homeless, hopeless, they
  wandered from city to city.
• -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline A Tale
  of Acadie

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Also known as

• The Great Upheaval, the Great Expulsion, The
  Deportation, the Acadian Expulsion, or to the
  deportees, Le Grand Dérangement

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• The Deportation, was the forced population
  transfer or ethnic cleansing of the Acadian
  population from Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Cape
  Breton between 1755 and 1763.
• It was ordered by British governor Charles
  Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council.

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Events Leading to the Deportation

• The idea of solving the Acadian problem through
  full scale deportation, was not new.
• It had existed since the late 1600s

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Why in 1755?

• War starts up again in 1756 Seven Years War
• The relationship between the French and the
  English had always been filled with animosity.
• British worry Acadians will be disloyal, tried to
  make them swear an oath or be deported

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In 1755

• That year, the British attacked the French Fort
  Beauséjour during the beginnings of a major
  military offensive to gain greater control of the
  continent.
• Within the walls of the fort, 300 Acadians were
  found. Despite claims that they had been forced
  to take up arms against their will, the discovery
  completely eroded British trust of the Acadians.

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A Spy is Found.

• Thomas Pinchon, the forts supply clerk had been
  sowing doubt among the Acadians for days before
  the Fort fell.
• The French later discovered, that Pinchon was a
  spy who had funneled information, including the
  plans to the fort, to the British.

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Inveterate enemies

• Lawrence was raging mad over the amount of
  Acadians who had rallied to Beausejours defense.
• Lawrence said, Their pretending to have taken
  been forced to take up arms is an insult upon
  Common Sense. The Acadians will prove for ever
  a Thorn in our Side.
• He made sure that London found out about the 300
  Acadians present at the Fort

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One last chance

• Governor Lawrence gave the Acadians one last
  opportunity to swear allegiance to the British
  Crown. The Acadians again refused, believing that
  this demand was no different than ones made over
  the past few decades.

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In the weeks that followed

• Lawrence, Destroy all the villages.and use
  every other method of distress.
• John Winslows announcement in Grand Pre.
• The men and boys of Grand Pre were startled to
  see their familiar churchyard transformed into an
  armed campOnce everyone had assembled-418-had
  answered the summons-Winslow, in his best
  brass-buttoned uniform, entered with a bevy of
  officers. The church fell silent. (Jobb 118).

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• Deportation of Acadians order, read by Winslow
  in Grand-Pré church

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The Acadian Reaction

• The church erupted in shouts and cries. Every
  well-tanned face was frozen in shock or twisted
  in rage. What had they done to deserve such
  punishment? Where were they being sent? What
  would become of their wives and children? At
  first, few could grasp the enormity of what was
  happening. Weeks later, Winslow would note, many
  still found it hard to believe they were being
  stripped of their property and banished from
  their homeland -(Jobb 119).

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A Sad Fate

• The British response was swift and unforgiving
• Before 1755 was over, an estimated 6,000
  Acadians - approximately three-quarters of their
  total population - were rounded up as prisoners
  and forced onto ships
• Nearly half would die en route.

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Evangeline

• An immortalized tale of the Acadian Deportation.
• This particular version performed by Marie-Jo
  Thério, Evangéline is a French-Canadian song that
  celebrates the legendary woman of the same name
  and her incredible story
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vvbxvf2OflWkfeature
  related

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Sources

• Jobb, Dean. The Acadians A Peoples Story of
  Exile and Triumph.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vvbxvf2OflWkfeature
  related