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
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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,