The Great Expulsion: French Acadians Divided
The Great Expulsion of the Acadians began in 1755 by the order of the Nova Scotia governor, Charles Lawrence. Lawrence didn’t want the Acadians take up arms with the British and demanded they signed the unconditional oath of allegiance. The allegiance demanded that the Acadians gave up their neutrality and giving their loyalty to Britain. Failing to do so, Lawrence ordered the expulsion to begin. (Bron & Houle, 2005) Many conflicts with the British lead the Acadians to be expelled from Nova Scotia and played a significant role in American History.
The Acadians originated from the explorations of Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer that moved to France to pursue a maritime career. In
…show more content…
What set them apart from all other colonist was the French language. Unable to adapt, the first winter was difficult and killing about thirty-six of their men from scurvy. ( CHIASSON & LANDRY, 2014) In the next year they moved to Port-Royal and formed an alliance with the Mi’kmaqs and Maliseet Indians. The relations brought them many advantages in order to survive on the land but a disadvantage for the Mi’kmaqs. The Mi’kmaqs attempted to profit from the fur trade with the new settlers but failed. The Mi’kmaqs than tried to exploit a military alliance with the French but than backfired. They would now be subject to the government and alter their life style, so they changed their employment to farming, crafts and lumber …show more content…
“Britain obtained Newfoundland, Acadia, and the Hudson Bay region of northern Canada from France...” (Henretta, Jarnes A; Edwards, Rebecca; Self, Robert O; 2012) With Britain now in control of Acadia Consequences arose for the most of them. The British wanted them to sign an unconditional oath of loyalty, forcing them to be loyal to Britain. The Acadians were opposed to being loyal to Britain and wanted to maintain their neutrality and alliance to the Mi’kmaqs. Instead, they “negotiated a conditional oath that promised neutrality with the Nova Scotia Governor Richard Philipps to the Board of trade of London in 1720.” (Meyer,
For example, in his lasts years as a governor, he was concentrated on settling migrants on Acadian land, principally from New England. That, however, was not the main reason he affected the Acadians. The main reason Charles Lawrence had affected Acadian history was because it was him who wrote the deportation letter of the Acadians which took place in 1755. In early July 1755, a group of delegates from Minas
I. Recolonization of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick A. The thirteen colonies wanted Nova Scotia to become the fourteenth colony because of their close relationships and trading. B. Following the deportation of thousands of Acadians, Governor Charles Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, sent a proclamation throughout all of British North America to settle Acadian farmlands in 1756. He promised the English settlers paid transportation and land grants of forty hectares and twenty more hectares for each additional person.
The American Revolution spurred on by the idea of National Independence in the original thirteen colonies. Colonist in New England wanted Independence from Britain and the right to govern their own country. Many Americans, from both New England and the Province of Canada, came to the aid of the revolution. Some Americans in Nova Scotia did manage to participate in the revolutions cause. However, the majority of New Englanders in Nova Scotia did not get involved in the war.
When the French were defeated in 1763, it became a critical turning point in history for the Shawnees, already dissatisfied with British authority they subsequently were involved in a conflict known as Pontiac’s Rebellion, and migrated from Detroit to Ohio, again living in densely populated areas along the Ohio River with little food, forest protection, and spirits altered by the imperialism displayed by the British and the carelessness of the Colonists created a sense of wickedness among whites, and in-turn the tribe more reluctant to understand British/Colonist culture and the process of assimilation. Although participation in the Seven Years’ War created greater bonds among the Colonies and Indians alike, the war also strengthened colonists
In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. After the conclusion of the French and Indian war in America, the British Empire began to tighten control over its rather autonomous colonies. This royal proclamation, which closed down colonial expansion westward, was the first measure to affect all thirteen colonies. In response to a revolt of Native Americans led by Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, King George III declared all lands west of the Appalachian Divide off-limits to colonial
Charles Lawrence writes that the Acadians were a kind of liability, that the British should “rid ourselves of a set of people who would forever have been an obstruction”, not only that but he acted completely on his own accord, having received no official order from Britain . The Acadians were insistent that they were faithful to “his Britannic Majesty”, claiming that the way that there were being treated was unwarranted . Charles Lawrence states that the inhabitants had “continually furnished” the enemies with information and supplies . I find this interesting, because the only mention of this actually happening takes place in Lawrence’s document.
Event: After the French and Indian War, the British government had a problem with the Native Americans fighting with the colonists. Then, King George III, ordered a Proclamation of 1763. It stated that the Colonies could not settle on the west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was a big problem because colonists were already settled there and people were moving there. The Native American tribe Ottawa revolted, lead by Pontiac the chief because they were afraid that the colonists were going to move into their The colonists thought this was unjust and sensed tyranny.
Roman Catholic French and the Protestant English-speaking colonists did not exactly see eye to eye. Both groups then turned to England and asked to govern their own affairs. In 1791, the British Parliament believed that by separating the two and giving them each their own elected assembly, that things would resolve themselves. Upper Canada would be home to the English-speaking majority, and Lower Canada would be the French-speaking majority. This plan had only worked for so long.
After the war England dominated a large portion of the North American continent (Doc A). This event inspired conflict with the Indians as colonists migrated to the west. Pontiac’s Uprising resulted from these events, displaying the disdain the Indians felt for the colonists. Along with this Cantessago, Chief of the Onondaga Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy in a speech to representatives of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia in 1742 commenting that, “You People daily settle on these Lands, and spoil our Hunting. We must insist on your Removing them, as you know they have no Right to settle.”
Just 29 years after the American Revolutionary War, America and Great Britain were back to butting heads. This time it was not over the matter of independence, but over a cluster of reasons. Little by little, the British were starting to disturb the Americans. These reasons included British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen and the arming of Native Americans. During the war, the Canadians sided with the British while the indians chose to fight on both sides.
In 1608, the French established their first settlement in Quebec, found by Samuel de Champlain. French Catholics had no reason to leave France, and the Huguenots wished to migrate, but were excluded. Their colony’s population grew quite slow. French Jesuit Missionaries were the first to infiltrate the Native societies. The fur trade helped provide an opportunity for friendly relations.
The Native Americans had no choice but to play the French and British against each other. By the time of the French and Indian War, they were not just playing the French against the British for goods and guns. (1) It became necessary for the survival of their culture, and the natives were concerned with the vast amounts of land being claimed and settled by the British. The French and Indians were more likely to be allies, although the British did have Native American allies.
Negative There were also negative consequences to having Native Americans on the British side. According to some British commanders, Native Americans were “unruly, uncontrollable, and could not be trusted in the heat of battle”. Native Americans were becoming more of a burden to the British as the war continued. They would often leave a battle to return home or would not listen to British commanding officers. Native Americans did not fight in the same manner as the British and some of their practices lead to mistrust and conflict with their British allies.
Title Native American Indians of the Revolutionary War Nearly 250 year after the Revolutionary War, there was a mistaken idea that the war was fought only between the British and the 13 British colonies. However, the Native American Indians played a major role in the Revolutionary War. Long before the Revolutionary War was active, around 1772, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and the Seneca Indians created a nation to become stronger and stop the colonists from taking over their lands. The indians had hoped that their lands would be protected by the British after Joseph Brant was influenced them to help.
They extended the providence of Quebec to span west of the Mississippi, north towards the Hudson Bay and all the way up to the islands at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, preventing colonial expansion. The Quebec Act also denied the colonies the right to an elected legislative assembly. The British did not realize that the Quebec Act would impact the Middle and Southern colonies too. The British wanted to make New England listen to them and stop their shenanigans and scare the other colonies into listening to parliament but, that did not work. The colonies united after the Intolerable Acts to form the Committee of Correspondence.