Acadians PowerPoint for Shane Bernard's Book

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The following questions cover subjects
chronologically as they appear in the book. They
are designed to highlight major trends and events
in the sweep of Acadian and Cajun history.
STUDY QUESTIONS for Cajuns and Their Acadian
Ancestors A Young Reader's History by Shane K.
Bernard

By Shane K. Bernard
University Press of Mississippi 3825 Ridgewood
Road Jackson MS 39211-6492 (800)
737-7788 press_at_ihl.state.ms.us
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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1. What events convinced the first Acadians to
leave France for Acadia?
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hit enter or click on your mouse to see the
next question.
The first Acadians left France for Acadia because
of a combination of disastrous events, including
religious wars, drought, famine, epidemics
(disease), lawlessness (crime), and the burden
of high taxes.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
3
2. What characteristics did many of the early
Acadian colonists have in common?
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next question.
Most of the first Acadian colonists came from the
Centre-Ouest region of France and shared a
peasant background, the French language, and the
Roman Catholic religion.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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3. What was the significance of the Micmac Indian
tribe to the early Acadian colonists?
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next question.
The Micmac Indians taught the Acadians frontier
survival skills, such as how to hunt wild game
and how to grow local crops. The Micmac also
intermarried with the Acadians.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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4. What were the Acadian colonys chief exports?
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next question.
Acadias chief exports were fish, especially cod,
and fur, which colonists sent back to France or
used for trading with other North American
colonies, including the British colonies of New
England.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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5. Why did the British military repeatedly seize
Acadia from France?
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next question.
The British military regarded the Acadian
peninsula as crucial to protecting British
colonies in North America from attack by the
French military and its Indian allies. It also
wanted to control Acadias natural resources,
such as its fishing and fur industries, and
particularly its rich farmland.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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6. Why did the Acadians refuse to take an
unconditional oath of allegiance to the British
crown?
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hit enter or click on your mouse to see the
next question.
The Acadians refused to take an unconditional
oath of allegiance because it would require them
to fight for the British crown during wartime.
They feared such a promise would invite attacks
on them by the French military and its Indian
allies. As a result, the Acadians swore and
repeatedly offered to reaffirm a conditional oath
of allegiance, through which they vowed to be
loyal British subjects, but to remain neutral
during wartime, taking up arms for neither the
British nor the French.
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7. During the expulsion, what steps did the
British take to prevent the Acadians from
returning to their homeland?
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hit enter or click on your mouse to see the
next question.
The British burned the Acadians farms, homes,
mills, and churches to discourage the exiles from
returning to Nova Scotia. They also confiscated
the Acadians farmland and gave it to
English-speaking Protestant settlers loyal to the
British crown. Finally, the British scattered the
Acadian exiles in small groups throughout many
distant lands, hoping that the Acadians would be
swallowed up by other, larger groups of peoples
and cease to exist as an ethnic group.
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8. Why did the Spanish government want the
Acadian exiles to settle in Louisiana?
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next question.
The Spanish government wanted the Acadian exiles
to settle in Louisiana to prevent English
colonists from intruding on and settling in
Spanish lands, which consisted of what would
become the vast Louisiana Purchase territory.
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9. What was the significance of the Dauterive
Compact?
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hit enter or click on your mouse to see the
next question.
Although never put into effect, the Dauterive
Compacts promise of land and cattle attracted
early Acadian exiles to south Louisianas
Attakapas region. This drew other Acadian exiles
to the region, where they and their descendants
soon became the dominant ethnic group.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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10. How did the American Civil War and
Reconstruction transform the Acadians into a new
ethnic groups called the Cajuns?
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next question.
The Civil War and Reconstruction destroyed south
Louisianas economy, reducing formerly prosperous
ethnic groups, such as the French, Spanish, and
Germans, to the same poverty level as the mass of
ordinary Acadian subsistence farmers. Once this
happened, these various groups began to
intermarry in large numbers, and the mixing of
Acadian, French, Spanish, and German influences
(among others) created the new ethnic group known
today as the Cajuns.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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11. What caused the decline of the French
language among twentieth-century Cajuns?
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next question.
In 1916 the Louisiana state board of education
declared English the only language of public
school classrooms. In 1921 a new Louisiana state
constitution confirmed this English-only policy.
As a result, educators punished generations of
Cajun children for speaking French on
school grounds. This not only discouraged Cajun
children from speaking French among themselves,
but years later from teaching it to their own
children. Combined with the onslaught of
mainstream American culture for example, the
coming of television the practice of punishing
Cajun children for speaking French caused the
languages dramatic decline by the late twentieth
century.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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12. What effect did Americas entry into World
War II have on the Cajun people?
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next question.
World War II drew the Cajuns into mainstream
American history for the first time. Thousands of
Cajuns served in the military, which introduced
them to a world far beyond their south Louisiana
homeland. Meanwhile, families and friends back on
the home front worked in defense plants or
volunteered as civil defense wardens, auxiliary
firemen and policeman, plane spotters, and
nurses. Proud of their wartime service, Cajuns
emerged from World War II a heavily Americanized
people.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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13. What impact did the aftermath of World War II
have on the Cajun people?
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hit enter or click on your mouse to see the
next question.
Almost as soon as World War II ended, the Cold
War a global struggle between democracy and
communism erupted between the U.S., the Soviet
Union, and their respective allies. Like
patriotic Americans elsewhere, Cajuns joined the
struggle, fighting Communist foes, for example,
in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Furthermore, Cajuns participated in Americas
postwar prosperity, magnified in south Louisiana
by the booming oil industry. Armed for the first
time with disposable incomes, Cajuns purchased
automobiles, refrigerators, air conditioners,
clothes washers and dryers, and televisions. In
this way, the Cajuns demonstrated that they, like
other Americans, had bought into the American
Dream.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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14. What was the purpose of CODOFIL and what were
some of its achievements?
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next question.
The purpose of CODOFIL (the Council for the
Development of French in Louisiana) was,
according to the legislation that created the
group, To do any and all things necessary to
accomplish the development, utilization, and
preservation of the French language as found in
the State of Louisiana for the cultural,
economic, and touristic benefit of the State.
CODOFIL succeeded in expanding French education
in public schools. It also strengthened cultural
and economic ties with France, Belgium, Quebec,
and other French-speaking regions. It promoted
south Louisiana as an intriguing tourist
destination, and it generated positive media
attention for the region. Finally, CODOFIL served
as an effective Cajun watchdog group, speaking
out against perceived ethic slurs and insults
against the Cajun people. These achievements
helped to renew the French language in Louisiana
and to increase Cajun pride and empowerment.
Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard
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Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors A Young
Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

By Shane K. Bernard
University Press of Mississippi 3825 Ridgewood
Road Jackson MS 39211-6492 (800)
737-7788 press_at_ihl.state.ms.us
Slide photos are public domain photographs or
sketches. Oil rig photo courtesy of Jude Dubois.