Starting in the 11th century, the kings of England and the kings of France engaged in a series of seemingly interminable wars. They were fought at first in Europe, but as both nations acquired global empires, these conflicts spread to their colonial possessions around the world. Territories in what is now Canada naturally were caught up in these struggles.
In 1710, as part of the War of the Spanish Succession, the British captured much of the French colony of Acadia on the Atlantic Coast of North America. They renamed it Nova Scotia (New Scotland), though the inhabitants remained largely French and Mi’kmaq—folk who were unhappy with their new rulers. Armed conflict between English-speaking colonists, French-speaking Acadians, and native tribes, supported with arms by French authorities, was frequent. Both the French and English governments built impressive fortifications to thwart the other’s ambitions in the area. The British established a strong base in Halifax, while the French erected fortresses at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island and Fort Beauséjour at the head of the Bay of Fundy.
A Catholic missionary and French agent-provocateur named Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre became involved in encouraging native and Acadian resistance to the British presence and served as the connection between the local militias and the French military. In a letter to the French government, Le Loutre said: “As we cannot openly oppose the English ventures, I think that we cannot do better than to incite the Mi‘kmaq to continue warring on the English; my plan is to persuade the Mi’kmaq to send word to the English that they will not permit new settlements to be made in Acadia. … I shall do my best to make it look to the English as if this plan comes from the Mi'kmaq and that I have no part in it.”
During the late 1740s and early 1750s, a period in which Britain and France were nominally at peace, Le Loutre led a guerilla campaign against English colonists and forts and counselled Acadian settlers to move out of the territory to French possessions.
Believing that Fort Beauséjour was key to the French military threat in the Maritimes, in June 1755 a large force of British regulars and New England militiamen under Col. Robert Monckton began a siege of the fortress. Outmanned and outgunned, the small French garrison surrendered after a heavy bombardment. British officials discovered that hundreds of Acadians had taken part in the fort’s defence, and were troubled by the continuing guerilla strikes of Mi’kmak and French-speaking colonists.
It was at this point that authorities began to demand that Acadians finally swear allegiance to the British crown. For several generations, these people had refused to do so, claiming to be peaceful neutrals in the hope that the French military would once again take control of their territory. In July 1755, Acadian delegates met with Nova Scotia Governor Charles Lawrence, who pressed them to accept British sovereignty in an unqualified way; they refused. The next month, Lawrence told the recalcitrant French-speaking inhabitants: “That your Land & Tennements, Cattle of all Kinds and Livestocks of all Sorts are forfeited to the Crown with all other your effects Savings your money and Household Goods, and you yourselves to be removed from this Province.”
From 1755 to 1764, over 10,000 Acadians who refused to take the oath were deported. Many of them saw their houses and crops burnt in order to prevent them from coming back; many were jailed awaiting deportation. Thousands more fled to various territories of New France before they could be apprehended. In their place came waves of settlers from New England, delighted to be given rich farmland, fields, and orchards.
The displaced folk of what was called le Grand Dérangement, or the Great Upheaval, were sent either to English-speaking colonies to the south, to Britain, or to France. Their suffering was considerable: thousands died from shipwreck, disease, or privation. A number of Acadians made their way to Louisiana, where their descendants became known as “Cajuns” and where they maintain a distinct culture to this day.
By 1764, and the end of the Seven Years’ War, Britain had driven France from its North American holdings and it was felt in London that it was safe to allow the Acadians to return to the area. Those who came back found that their homes and farms had been taken, so they resettled in other parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island.
