No one likes to be expelled. It is an insult. You feel unwanted. Undocumented people in the US don’t like it. The Mennonites who left Russia for Germany during the Second World War did not like it. No one likes it. It is a profound insult, even when disguised as a voluntary withdrawal.
The Acadians had settled the area in and around Annapolis Royal since the founding of Annapolis Royal in the early 1600s. They were among the earliest Europeans to move to Canada. The Acadians had lived in the region of Atlantic Canada, particularly Nova Scotia, and were mainly French Catholics who maintained a neutral stance between the French and the British during their interminable wars of aggression by both sides. Particularly the British looked down upon them with suspicion.
Many Acadians were descended from about 50 French families that settled in the Annapolis Royal. Not all were French and they considered themselves an independent people by the time they were expelled.
In 1713 in the Treaty of Utrecht the French signed over to Britain the land the occupied by Acadians, without of course, consulting them or the Mi’kmaq, whose traditional territory it was. Their views did not count. This was typical of imperial powers. The English were worried about security and signed peace and friendship treaties with the Mi’kmaq toward that end from 1725 to 1726 and again in 1752.
The Acadians had established a vibrant community around the Bay of Fundy where they built dykes to tame the extremely high tides and lived in peace with their allies the Mi’kmaq.
Between 1755, just before the beginning of the Seven Years War between France and Britain, and 1764 after the British took over in Canada from the French, they quickly saw to it that the Acadians were expelled from Canada. 10,000 of these people were expelled in the next 10years. The expulsion of the Acadians is also referred to as the “Grand Dérangement.” And like so many expulsions it truly was deranged. This one was the forced removal of Acadians (French settlers in Nova Scotia) from their homes and land by the British authorities between 1755 and 1764 mainly as a result of their refusal to swear an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. They really had done nothing to warrant such treatment, just like the Japanese in Canada during the Second World War had done nothing to warrant their expulsion to concentration camps in Canada.
In 1755 the British authorities led by Governor Charles Lawrence demanded, as tyrants demand clear demonstration of loyalty, as we are seeing again in the 21st century in a nominally democratic country like the United States.
In 1763 the French ceded control of Canada to the English in the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years’ War. As a result, Quebec became a British colony, and the Acadians in the Maritimes became British subjects, whether they liked it or not. But starting in 1755 the British rounded up the Acadians in those territories they already controlled, confiscated their property, and deported them to various British colonies around the world where the British felt they would not pose a threat. Some were also deported to France. This is all very reminiscent of what Americans are currently doing to their undocumented people in what their current leader has bragged is the greatest deportation in American history to the cheers of his loyal Trumpsters. The desire to expel the other is a common unattractive goal.
Here is how the Canadian Encyclopedia described it:
“Soldiers rounding up terrified civilians, expelling them from their land, burning their homes and crops ‒ it sounds like a 20th century nightmare in one of the world’s trouble spots, but it describes a scene from Canada’s early history, the Deportation of the Acadians”.
This church was built in Grand Pre in 1922 to commemorate the expulsion of Acadians. We must remember even the bad parts of our history. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
Just like modern deportations, the expulsion of Acadians was harsh with many of them perishing on their forced journeys as a result of disease and terrible conditions. They were allowed to take with them only what they could carry in a suitcase. In an act of savage vandalism, their properties were burnt to discourage them from returning.
Governor Lawrence ordered his soldiers not to pay the least attention “to any remonstrance or Memorial from any of the inhabitants.” When one of his Colonels, John Winslow, read the deportation order, he admitted that although it was his duty, it was “very disagreeable to my nature, make and temper.” He was like so many before and after him in claiming he was only following orders. As he said, “it is not my business to animadvert, but to obey such orders as I receive.”
Some Acadians resisted expulsion and some even launched retaliatory raids against the British troops.
Many of those deported never made it to their places of deportation on account of horrendous conditions on the ships or modes of transportation. Like the legendary Evangeline of Longfellow’s poem, many of the Acadians were forced to wander interminably looking for loved ones.
After the Seven Years War ended in 1763 some of them returned to their homelands but often found their land had been given away to others. This too is another unfortunate common occurrence among the supporters of deportations. Often authorities hand out the property of the deportees to those favored by the current regime. This was incisively shown in the film that last year was nominated for best Picture at the Academy Awards, namely “Zone of Interest.” Among other things it depicted the eagerness of Germans to steal property from Jews sent to death camps. It showed women callously describing how they might take property such as fur coats that had belonged to Jews in their neighbourhood of the camp at Auschwitz. Humans have a nasty inclination to abandon friends when minor economic gains can be achieved.
The expulsion of Acadians represents a dark chapter of forced displacement and cultural loss by Canadian ancestors. I know many Conservatives, particularly in the USA, who don’t like to be reminded of such sad chapters in the history of their nation. But the stories of the resilience of the Acadians and the astonishing preservation of their culture amid the hardships are testaments to their enduring spirit. Christiane and I had benefited greatly from that culture in our attendance at a local bar in Digby a couple of days before we drove to Grand Pre.
Many of the Acadians were attracted to Louisiana by familiarity of the language and remained to there and developed the culture now known as “Cajun.” As a result, they developed one of my favorite forms of music; Cajun or Zydeco music. Is any music better? If you want to hear some great music watch the film The Big Easy starring Dennis Quaid, John Goodman, and Ellen Barkin. The sound track to the film is stellar and gives a great taste of this music which I first heard about at a Winnipeg Folk Festival.
In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the British crown apologized and acknowledged the wrongs committed during the Acadian deportation. Sometimes apologies are necessary.
The expulsion was later proved to have been completely unnecessary on military grounds and was justifiably judged as unjust and inhumane like so many other expulsions around the world. Governor Lawrence’s lack of imagination played as big a part as did the greed, confusion, misunderstanding, and fear of the people and their populist leaders. Yet the Acadians established a society in the region that could never be squelched in a laudable demonstration of resilience in the face of pitiful and abject cruelty. Unfortunately, those lessons have not been well learned by people who continue to use such tactics against those they manage to relegate to the category of “the other.” Once again, we learn that history is important so that hopefully, once in awhile at least, we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Our neighbours to the south are managing to avoid learning such lessons by forcing history to be re-written or ignored. Of course, we in Canada, have often done this as well. History is important
