The land that comprises what is now Nova Scotia has been inhabited by the indigenous Miꞌkmaq people for thousands of years. In 1605, Acadia, France's first New France colony, was founded with the creation of Acadia's capital, . Britain fought France for the territory on numerous occasions for over a century afterwards. The Fortress of Louisbourg was a key focus point in the battle for control. Following the Great Upheaval (1755-1763) where the British deported the Acadians en masse, the Conquest of New France (1758-1760) by the British, and the Treaty of Paris (1763), France had to surrender Acadia to the British Empire. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), thousands of Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia. In 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony to achieve responsible government, and it federated in July 1867 with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) to form what is now the country of Canada.