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With the 7 year war over, and the considered military threat passed, the Acadians were finally allowed to return if they agreed to the oath of allegiance. As many as 3000 Acadians eventually returned in small isolated groups, only to find their farms and homesteads had been burned or claimed by British settlers. As a result, they were forced mainly into unsettled areas of what is now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Too bad the peace couldn’t last forever. The year of 1744, France and Britain were once again at war which stuck Acadia on the front lines (again!?). In an attempt to recapture Acadia, France launched a raid against Annapolis Royal (formerly Port Royal) , but the effort was completely wasted when the support ships failed to even show up.
The stubborn neutrality of the Acadians annoyed both the British who considered them unreliable subjects, and the French who considered them to be near-traitors. No matter what they thought though, the Acadians had kept their word. When the English finally did attack Fort Louisbourg in 1745, the Acadians didn’t take sides and tried hard not to get involved. In the end, they never led the uprising that the Frence urged or the Britain feared, but they couldn’t completely avoid being pulled into the conflict.
The Acadians promise of neutrality soon came under suspicion. Under the leadership of Governor Lawrence, the British started their attack on the French at Fort Beausejour. After seizing the Fort, the British found nearly two hundred Acadians were found within the walls of the Fort when it surrendered. For some British officials their presence was proof of treachery and deceit against their self-claimed oath of neutrality
After living successfully under the French and then the British rule (in 1604 and 1713, respectively), the Acadians were often forced to adapt. So when the British conquered Port Royal in 1710, after the french ceded Acadia under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, the British found themselves up against a people who had developed a strong sense of independence against both the British and French rule. The Acadians initially refused to recognize British rule, wanting to keep their religious freedom and not wanting to be forced to fight in the event of war. These conditions were finally accepted in 1730 and, at that point, the Acadians were recognized as neutral subjects within the colony.
Not all Acadians were prepared to give up so easily. Some resisted deportation and fled into the woods with their families, while others fled to New France or seeked aid from their native allies. Those who were relocated arrived bewildered, impoverished and destitute if they hadn't died during the journey.
They were taken by boat to the British colonies along the Atlantic coast;
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. Some were taken to France. Since Virginia refused to take them in, those people were taken to England where they were imprisoned for eight years before being sent to France.
1755
1758
1743
1764
1713
These cruel deportations lasted up until 1762 and displaced somewhere from 10,000 to 18,000 Acadians with thousands more killed. To discourage the Acadians from coming back, the British distroyed all of their crops and killed their livestock. Disported Acadians were allowed only to pack their clothes, bedding and (if they were lucky) some of their personal belongings. Everything else was left behind and/or destroyed.
In British-controlled Acadia, life went on as normal. In fact, the Golden Age of Acadia (1713-1743) took place under British rule. During the benign neglect of French rule, the Acadians had been forced to trade illegally with their New England neighbours (whom Acadians had dubbed nos amis l’ennemi, or “our friends the enemy”). But now that Acadia was held by the British, the attacks pretty much ceased, the smuggling more or less ended, and trade with the English colonies was not only legal, it was actively encouraged.
Life was good, the birth rate was high, and Acadia was at peace. For more than 30 years, the colony prospered. The Acadians had an integrated, mixed economy, and they enjoyed a religious freedom not allowed to Catholics in Britain, nor Protestants in France. There was just one tiny little problem…
Although they didn’t act like it, the Acadians were still a conquered people. And, according to the agreements at that time, conquered people were either a) deported or b) defanged. The first possibility seemed more likely, and in the early years of being conquered, the Acadians expected to be expelled at any time. (In fact, so sure were they that they wouldn’t be around the following fall to harvest their crops that in 1714 they sowed around two years worth of crops and didn’t bother planting more.)
British Governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council decided on July 28, 1755 to deport the Acadians. Although Grand Pré is still the most well known symbol of the expulsion, the event actually began at Fort Beauséjour on August 11.
About 6,000 Acadians were forcibly removed from their colonies. The British military ordered the Acadians' communities to be destroyed and homes and barns were burned down. The people were dispersed among the 13 American colonies, but many refused them and sent them on to Europe. Families were torn apart and many lost everything they owned.
As a result of the deportation and the subsequent migrations, the Acadians ended up in the New England States and all along the eastern seaboard, as far south as Georgia. Many were put in jail, and many died at sea. Others ran away to Québec, hid with the Mi’kmaqs in Nova Scotia, or went to present-day New Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island.