Acadie And The Acadians

The first work devoted exclusively to Acadians in Nova Scotia, this book presents a thorough study of Acadian history from the earliest days of French settlement to present-day Acadian communities. Authors Sally Ross and Alphonse Deveau draw on original seventeenth-century texts, as well as up-to-date sources. They examine the history of the Expulsion--the Grand Dérangement--that began in 1755, and trace the return of the Acadians and their resettlement in seven areas of the province. The authors highlight the distinct features that have developed within these different regions of Nova Scotia and discuss the choices and challenges faced by Acadians today: the linguistic assimilation and preservation of a distinct culture against pressures from the mainstream culture. Acadians of Nova Scotia won the 1993 Dartmouth Book Award for non-fiction and the 1993 Evelyn Richardson Memorial Literary Prize for non-fiction.

Acadie Then and Now: A People's History is an international collection of articles from 50 authors that chronicles the historical and contemporary realities of the Acadian and Cajun people worldwide. In 1605, French colonists settled Acadie (today Nova Scotia, Canada) and for the next 150 years developed a strong and unique Acadian culture. In 1755, the British conducted forced deportations of the Acadians rendering thousands homeless, and for the next 60 years these exiles migrated to seaports along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, eventually settling in new lands. This tragic upheaval did not succeed in extinguishing the Acadians, but instead planted the seeds of many new Acadies, where today their fascinating culture still thrives. This collection includes 65 articles on the Acadians and Cajuns living today in the American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Maine, in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Quebec, and in the French regions of Poitou, Belle-Ile-en-Mer, and St-Pierre et Miquelon.

Despite their position between warring French and British empires, European settlers in the Maritimes eventually developed from a migrant community into a distinctive Acadian society. From Migrant to Acadian is a comprehensive narrative history of how the Acadian community came into being. Acadian culture not only survived, despite attempts to extinguish it, but developed into a complex society with a unique identity and traditions that still exist in present day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

"Altogether superb: an accessible, fluent account that advances scholarship while building a worthy memorial to the victims of two and a half centuries past." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) In 1755, New England troops embarked on a "great and noble scheme" to expel 18,000 French-speaking Acadians ("the neutral French") from Nova Scotia, killing thousands, separating innumerable families, and driving many into forests where they waged a desperate guerrilla resistance. The right of neutrality; to live in peace from the imperial wars waged between France and England; had been one of the founding values of Acadia; its settlers traded and intermarried freely with native Mikmaq Indians and English Protestants alike. But the Acadians' refusal to swear unconditional allegiance to the British Crown in the mid-eighteenth century gave New Englanders, who had long coveted Nova Scotia's fertile farmland, pretense enough to launch a campaign of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. John Mack Faragher draws on original research to weave 150 years of history into a gripping narrative of both the civilization of Acadia and the British plot to destroy it.

This work offers a fascinating insight into the history and culture of the Acadian people, who were displaced from their ancestral homeland in the Maritime provinces of Canada in the 18th century. Roth traces the origin and development of the Acadian community, its customs and traditions, and its tragic fate at the hands of British colonial authorities. He provides a nuanced and empathetic perspective on one of the most misunderstood and marginalized groups in North American history. The book sheds light on the enduring legacy of the Acadian people and their contribution to the cultural and social diversity of the continent. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"Acadia" covered the Maritime provinces which are the present provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

In 1600 there were no such people as the Acadians; by 1700 the Acadians, who numbered almost 2,000, lived in an area now covered by northern Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the southern Gaspé region of Quebec. While most of their ancestors had come to live there from France, a number had arrived from Scotland and England. Their relations with the original inhabitants of the region, the Micmac and Malecite peoples, were generally peaceful. In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht recognized the Acadian community and gave their territory -- on the frontier between New England and New France -- to Great Britain. During the next forty years the Acadians continued to prosper and to develop their political life and distinctive culture. The deportation of 1755, however, exiled the majority of Acadians to other British colonies in North America. Some went on from their original destination to England, France, or Santo Domingo; many of those who arrived in France continued on to Louisiana; some Acadians eventually returned to Nova Scotia, but not to the lands they once held. The deportation, however, did not destroy the Acadian community. In spite of a horrific death toll, nine years of proscription, and the forfeiture of property and political rights, the Acadians continued to be part of Nova Scotia. The communal existence they were able to sustain, Griffiths shows, formed the basis for the recovery of Acadian society when, in 1764, they were again permitted to own land in the colony. Instead of destroying the Acadian community, the deportation proved to be a source of power for the formation of Acadian identity in the nineteenth century. By placing Acadian history in the context of North American and European realities, Griffiths removes it from the realms of folklore and partisan political interpretation. She brings into play the current historiographical concerns about the development of the trans-Atlantic world of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, considerably sharpening our focus on this period of North American history.