Acadia

Acadia(French:Acadie) was a colony ofNew Francein northeasternNorth Americawhich included parts of what are now theMaritime provinces, theGaspé PeninsulaandMaineto theKennebec River.
The population of Acadia included the various indigenousFirst Nationsthat comprised theWabanaki Confederacy, theAcadian peopleand otherFrench settlers.
The first capital of Acadia was established in 1605 asPort-Royal. Soon after, English forces of Captain Argall, an English ship's captain employed by the Virginia Company of London attacked and burned down thefortified habitationin 1613. A new centre for Port-Royal was established nearby, and it remained the longest-serving capital of French Acadia until the Britishsiege of Port Royalin 1710.There were six colonial wars in a 74-year period in which British interests tried to capture Acadia, starting withKing William's Warin 1689.
French troops from Quebec, Acadians, the Wabanaki Confederacy, and French priests continually raided New England settlements along the border in Maine during these wars. Acadia was conquered in 1710 duringQueen Anne's War, while New Brunswick and much of Maine remained contested territory. Prince Edward Island (Île Saint-Jean) and Cape Breton (Île Royale) remained under French control, as agreed under Article XIII of theTreaty of Utrecht.
The English took control of Maine by defeating the Wabanaki Confederacy and the French priests duringFather Rale's War. DuringKing George's War, France and New France made significant attempts to regain mainland Nova Scotia. The British took New Brunswick inFather Le Loutre's War, and they took Île Royale and Île Saint-Jean in 1758 following theFrench and Indian War. The territory was eventually divided into British colonies.
The term Acadia today refers to regions of North America that are historically associated with the lands, descendants, or culture of the former region. It particularly refers to regions of the Maritimes with Acadian roots, language, and culture, primarily in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward Island, as well as in Maine.
"Acadia" can also refer to theAcadian diasporain southernLouisiana, a region also referred to asAcadianasince the early 1960s. In the abstract, Acadia refers to the existence of an Acadian culture in any of these regions. People living in Acadia are calledAcadians, which in Louisiana changed toCajuns, the more common, rural American, name of Acadians.
ExplorerGiovanni da Verrazzanois credited for originating the designation Acadia on his 16th-century map, where he applied the ancient Greek name "Arcadia" to the entire Atlantic coast north ofVirginia."Arcadia" is derived from theArcadia districtin Greece, which had the extended meanings of "refuge" or "idyllic place".Henry IV of Francechartered a colony south of theSt. Lawrence Riverbetween the 40th and 46th parallels in 1603, and he recognized it asLa Cadie.Samuel de Champlainfixed its present orthography with theromitted, and cartographerWilliam Francis Ganonghas shown its gradual progress northeastwards to its resting place in the Atlantic provinces of Canada.
As an alternative theory, some historians suggest that the name is derived from theindigenous CanadianMiꞌkmaq language, in which Cadie means "fertile land".
During much of the 17th and early 18th centuries,Norridgewockon theKennebec RiverandCastineat the end of thePenobscot Riverwere the southernmost settlements of Acadia.The French government defined the borders of Acadia as roughly between the40thand46th parallelson the Atlantic coast.
The borders of French Acadia were not clearly defined, but the following areas were at some time part of French Acadia :
The history of Acadia was significantly influenced by the great power conflict between France and England, later Great Britain, that occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Mi'kmaq had been living in Acadia for at least two to three thousand years.Early European settlers were French subjects primarily from thePoitou-CharentesandAquitaineregions of southwestern France, now known asNouvelle-Aquitaine. The first French settlement was established byPierre Dugua de Mons,Governor of Acadia, under the authority of the French King,Henri IV, onSaint Croix Islandin 1604. The following year, the settlement was moved across theBay of FundytoPort Royalafter a difficult winter on the island and deaths fromscurvy. There, they constructed a newhabitation. In 1607, the colony received bad news as Henri IV revoked Sieur de Mons' royal fur monopoly, citing that the income was insufficient to justify supplying the colony further. Thus recalled, the last of the French left Port Royal in August 1607. Their allies, the Mi'kmaq, agreed to act as custodians of the settlement. When the former lieutenant governor,Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just, returned in 1610, he found thePort Royal habitationjust as it was left.
During the first 80 years of the French presence in Acadia, there were numerous significant battles as the English, Scottish, andDutchcontested the French for possession of the colony. These battles happened at Port Royal,Saint John,Cap de Sable (present-dayPort La Tour, Nova Scotia),Jemseg,Castine, andBaleine.
From the 1680s onward, there were six colonial wars that took place in the region (see theFrench and Indian Warsas well asFather Rale's WarandFather Le Loutre's War). These wars were fought betweenNew EnglandandNew France, and their respective native allies. After the Britishsiege of Port Royalin 1710, mainland Nova Scotia was under the control of British colonial government, but both present-dayNew Brunswickand virtually all of present-day Maine remained contested territory between New England and New France, until theTreaty of Parisof 1763 confirmed British control over the region.
The wars were fought on two fronts: the southern border of Acadia, which New France defined as theKennebec Riverin southern Maineand in present-day peninsular Nova Scotia. The latter involved preventing the British from taking the capital of Acadia, Port Royal (SeeQueen Anne's War), establishing themselves atCanso(SeeFather Rale's War) and founding Halifax (seeFather Le Loutre's War).
From 1640 to 1645, Acadia was plunged into what some historians have described as a civil war.The war was between Port Royal, where the Governor of AcadiaCharles de Menou d'Aulnayde Charnisay was stationed, and present-daySaint John, New Brunswick, where Governor of AcadiaCharles de Saint-Étienne de la Tourwas stationed.There were four major battles in the war, and d'Aulnay ultimately prevailed over La Tour.
DuringKing Philip's War(1675–78), the governor was absent from Acadia (having first been imprisoned in Boston during theDutch occupation of Acadia) andJean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castinwas established at the capital of Acadia, Pentagouêt. From there he worked with the Abenaki of Acadia to raid British settlements migrating over the border of Acadia. British retaliation included attacking deep into Acadia in theBattle off Port La Tour (1677).
In response toKing Philip's WarinNew England, the native peoples in Acadia joined theWabanaki Confederacyto form a political and military alliance with New France.The Confederacy remained significant military allies to New France through six wars. Until theFrench and Indian Warthe Wabanaki Confederacy remained the dominant military force in the region.
There were tensions on the border between New England and Acadia, which New France defined as theKennebec Riverin southern Maine.English settlers from Massachusetts (whose charter included the Maine area) had expanded their settlements into Acadia. To secure New France's claim to Acadia, it established Catholic missions (churches) among the four largest native villages in the region: one on the Kennebec River (Norridgewock); one further north on thePenobscot River(Penobscot); one on theSaint John River(Medoctec);and one atShubenacadie(Saint Anne's Mission).
DuringKing William's War(1688–97), some Acadians, theWabanaki Confederacyand the French Priests participated in defending Acadia at its border with New England, which New France defined as theKennebec Riverin southern Maine.Toward this end, the members of theWabanaki Confederacy, on the Saint John River and in other places, joined the New France expedition against present-dayBristol, Maine(thesiege of Pemaquid (1689)),Salmon Fallsand present-dayPortland, Maine.
In response, the New Englanders retaliated by attackingPort Royaland present-dayGuysborough. In 1694, theWabanaki Confederacyparticipated in theRaid on Oyster Riverat present-dayDurham, New Hampshire. Two years later, New France, led byPierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, returned and fought anaval battle in the Bay of Fundybefore moving on to raidBristol, Maine, again.
In retaliation, the New Englanders, led byBenjamin Church, engaged in aRaid on Chignecto (1696)and thesiege of the Capital of Acadia at Fort Nashwaak.
At the end of the war England returned the territory to France in theTreaty of Ryswickand the borders of Acadia remained the same.
DuringQueen Anne's War, some Acadians, theWabanaki Confederacyand the French priests participated again in defending Acadia at its border with New England. They made numerous raids on New England settlements along the border in theNortheast Coast Campaignand the famousRaid on Deerfield. In retaliation, Major Benjamin Church went on his fifth and final expedition to Acadia. He raided present-day Castine, Maine and continued with raids againstGrand Pre, Pisiquid, and Chignecto. A few years later, defeated in thesiege of Pemaquid (1696), Captain March made an unsuccessfulsiege on the Capital of Acadia, Port Royal (1707). British forces were successful with thesiege of Port Royal (1710), while the Wabanaki Confederacy were successful in the nearbyBattle of Bloody Creek (1711)and continued raids along the Maine frontier.
The 1710 conquest of the Acadian capital of Port Royal during the war was confirmed by theTreaty of Utrechtof 1713. The British conceded to the French "the island calledCape Breton, as also all others, both in the mouth of the river of St. Lawrence, and in the gulph of the same name", and "all manner of liberty to fortify any place or places there." The French established a fortress atLouisbourg, Cape Breton, to guard the sea approaches to Quebec.
On 23 June 1713, the French residents of Nova Scotia were given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave the region.In the meantime, the French signalled their preparedness for future hostilities by beginning the construction ofFortress Louisbourgon Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island. The British grew increasingly alarmed by the prospect of disloyalty in wartime of the Acadians now under their rule. French missionaries worked to maintain the loyalty of Acadians, and to maintain a hold on the mainland part of Acadia.
During the escalation that precededDummer's War(1722–1725), some Acadians, theWabanaki Confederacyand the French priests persisted in defending Acadia, which had been conceded to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht, at its border against New England. The Miꞌkmaq refused to recognize the treaty handing over their land to the English and hostilities resumed. The Miꞌkmaq raided the new fort atCanso, Nova Scotiain 1720. The Confederacy made numerous raids on New England settlements along the border into New England. Towards the end of January 1722, GovernorSamuel Shutechose to launch a punitive expedition againstSébastien Rale, a Jesuit missionary, atNorridgewock.This breach of the border of Acadia, which had at any rate been ceded to the British, drew all of the tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy into the conflict.
Under potential siege by the Confederacy, in May 1722, Lieutenant GovernorJohn Doucetttook 22 Miꞌkmaq hostage atAnnapolis Royalto prevent the capital from being attacked.In July 1722, theAbenakiandMiꞌkmaqcreated a blockade of Annapolis Royal, with the intent of starving the capital.The natives captured 18 fishing vessels and prisoners from present-dayYarmouthto Canso. They also seized prisoners and vessels from theBay of Fundy.
As a result of the escalating conflict, Massachusetts Governor Shute officially declared war on 22 July 1722.The first battle of Father Rale's War happened in the Nova Scotiatheatre.In response to the blockade of Annapolis Royal, at the end of July 1722, New England launched a campaign to end the blockade and retrieve over 86 New England prisoners taken by the natives. One of these operations resulted in theBattle at Jeddore.The next was a raid on Canso in 1723.Then in July 1724 a group of sixty Miꞌkmaq and Wolastoqiyik raided Annapolis Royal.
As a result of Father Rale's War, present-day central Maine fell again to the British with the defeat of Sébastien Rale at Norridgewock and the subsequent retreat of the native population from the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers.
King George's Warbegan when the war declarations from Europe reached the Frenchfortress at Louisbourgfirst, on May 3, 1744, and the forces there wasted little time in beginning hostilities. Concerned about their overland supply lines toQuebec, they firstraided the British fishing port of Cansoon May 23, and then organized an attack onAnnapolis Royal, then the capital ofNova Scotia. However, French forces were delayed in departing Louisbourg, and theirMiꞌkmaqandWolastoqeyallies decided toattack on their ownin early July. Annapolis had received news of the war declaration, and was somewhat prepared when the Indians began besiegingFort Anne. Lacking heavy weapons, the Indians withdrew after a few days. Then, in mid-August, a larger French force arrived before Fort Anne, but was also unable to mount an effective attack or siege against the garrison, which had received supplies and reinforcements fromMassachusetts. In 1745, British colonial forces conducted thesiege of Port Toulouse(St. Peter's) and thencaptured Fortress Louisbourgafter a siege of six weeks. France launcheda major expeditionto recover Acadia in 1746. Beset by storms, disease, and finally the death of its commander, theDuc d'Anville, it returned to France in tatters without reaching its objective. French officerJean-Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezayalso arrived from Quebec and conducted theBattle at Port-la-Joyeon Île Saint-Jean and theBattle of Grand Pré.
Despite the British capture of the Acadian capital in thesiege of Port Royal (1710), Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Miꞌkmaq. To prevent the establishment of Protestant settlements in the region, Miꞌkmaq raided the early British settlements of present-dayShelburne(1715) andCanso(1720). A generation later,Father Le Loutre's Warbegan whenEdward Cornwallisarrived to establishHalifaxwith 13 transports on 21 June 1749.The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Miꞌkmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, they erected fortifications in Halifax(Citadel Hill)(1749), Dartmouth (1750), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1751),Lunenburg(1753) andLawrencetown(1754).There were numerous Miꞌkmaq and Acadian raids on these villages such as theRaid on Dartmouth (1751).
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of peninsular Nova Scotia by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward, 1750); Grand Pre (Fort Vieux Logis, 1749) and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence, 1750). (A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre ofAnnapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Cobequid remained without a fort.)Numerous Miꞌkmaq and Acadian raids took place against these fortifications, such as thesiege of Grand Pre(1749).
In the years after the British conquest, the Acadians refused to swear unconditional oaths of allegiance to the British crown. During this time period some Acadians participated in militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to Fortress Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour.During theFrench and Indian War, the British sought to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg by deporting them.
This process began in 1755, after the Britishcaptured Fort Beauséjourand began theexpulsion of the Acadianswith theBay of Fundy Campaign. Between six and seven thousand Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotiato thelower British American colonies.Some Acadians eluded capture by fleeing deep into the wilderness or intoFrench-controlled Canada. The Quebec town of L'Acadie (now a sector ofSaint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) was founded by expelled Acadians.After thesiege of Louisbourg (1758), a second wave of the expulsion began with theSt. John River Campaign,Petitcodiac River Campaign,Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaignand theÎle Saint-Jean Campaign.
The Acadians and theWabanaki Confederacycreated a significant resistance to the British throughout the war. They repeatedly raided Canso, Lunenburg, Halifax, Chignecto and into New England.
Any pretense that France might maintain or regain control over the remnants of Acadia came to an end with the fall of Montreal in 1760 and the 1763Treaty of Paris, which permanently ceded almost all of eastern New France to Britain. In 1763, Britain would designate lands west of the Appalachians as the "Indian Reserve", but did not respect Miꞌkmaq title to the Atlantic region, claiming title was obtained from the French. The Miꞌkmaq remain in Acadia to this day. After 1764, many exiled Acadians finally settled inLouisiana, which had been transferred by France to Spain as part of theTreaty of Pariswhich formally ended conflict between France and Great Britain over control of North America (theSeven Years' War, known as theFrench and Indian Warin the United States),.ThedemonymAcadiandeveloped intoCajun,which was first used as a pejorative term until its later mainstream acceptance.
Britain eventually moderated its policies and allowed Acadians to return to Nova Scotia. However, most of the fertile former Acadian lands were now occupied by British colonists. The returning Acadians settled instead in more outlying areas of the original Acadia, such as Cape Breton and the areas which are now New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Among the Acadian descendants in the Canadian Maritime provinces, there was a revival of cultural awareness which is recognized as anAcadian Renaissance,with a struggle for recognition of Acadians as a distinct group starting in the mid-nineteenth century.Some Acadian deputies were elected to legislative assemblies, starting in 1836 withSimon d'Entremontin Nova Scotia.Several other provincial and federal members followed in New Brunswick and in Prince Edward Island.
This period saw the founding of Acadian higher educational institutions: the Saint Thomas Seminary from 1854 to 1862 and thenSaint Joseph's Collegefrom 1864, both inMemramcook, New Brunswick.This was followed by the founding of Acadian newspapers: the weeklyLe Moniteur Acadienin 1867and the dailyL'Évangélinein 1887 (fr), named after theepic poembyLongfellow.
In New Brunswick the 1870s saw a struggle against theCommon Schools Act of 1871, which imposed a non-denominational school system and forbade religious instruction during school hours.This led to widespread Acadian protests and school-tax boycotts, culminating in the1875 riots in the town of Caraquet.Finally in 1875 acompromisewas reached allowing for some Catholic religious teaching in the schools.
In the 1880s there began a series of Acadian national conventions.The first in 1881 adoptedAssumption Day(Aug.15) as theAcadian national holiday. The convention favored the argument of the priest Marcel-François Richard (fr) that Acadians are a distinct people which should have a national holiday distinct from that of Quebec (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day).The second convention in 1884 adopted other national symbols including theflag of Acadiadesigned by Marcel-François Richard, and the anthemAve maris stella.The third convention in 1890 created the Société nationale L'Assomption to promote the interests of the Acadian people in the Maritimes.Other Acadian national conventions continued until the fifteenth in 1972.
In 1885, the author, historian and linguistPascal Poirierbecame the first Acadian member of theSenate of Canada.
By the early twentieth century, some Acadians were chosen for leadership positions in New Brunswick. In 1912, Monseigneur Édouard LeBlanc of Nova Scotia was named bishop ofSaint John, after a campaign lasting many years to convince the Vatican to appoint an Acadian bishop.In 1917, the premier of Prince Edward Island resigned to accept a judicial position, and his Conservative Party choseAubin-Edmond Arsenaultas successor until the next election in 1919. Arsenault thus became the first Acadian provincial premier of any province in Canada.In 1923,Peter Veniotbecame the first Acadian premier of New Brunswick when he was chosen by the Liberal Party to complete the term of the retiring premier until 1925.
The expansion of Acadian influence in the Catholic church continued in 1936 with the creation of theArchdiocese of Monctonwhose first archbishop wasLouis-Joseph-Arthur Melanson, and whoseCathédrale Notre-Dame de l’Assomptionwas completed in 1940. The new archdiocese was expanded to include new predominantly Acadian dioceses inBathurst, New Brunswick(1938), inEdmundston(1944) and inYarmouth, Nova Scotia(1953).
In 1960,Louis Robichaudbecame the first Acadian to be elected premier of a Canadian province. He was elected premier of New Brunswick in 1960 and served three terms until 1970.
The Robichaud government created theUniversité de Monctonin 1963 as a unilingual French-language university,corresponding to the much older unilingual English-languageUniversity of New Brunswick. In 1964, two different deputy ministers of education were named to direct English-language and French-language school systems respectively.In the next few years, the Université de Moncton absorbed the former Saint-Joseph's College,as well as the École Normale (teacher's college) which trained French-speaking teachers for the Acadian schools.In 1977, two French-speaking colleges in Northern New Brunswick were transformed into theEdmundstonandShippagancampuses of the Université de Moncton.
TheNew Brunswick Equal Opportunity programof 1967 introduced reforms of municipal structures, of health care, of education, and of the administration of justice. In general, these changes tended to reduce economic inequality between regions of the province, and therefore tended to favour the disadvantaged Acadian regions.
TheNew Brunswick Official Languages Act (1969)declared New Brunswick officially bilingual with English and French having equal status as official languages. Residents have the right to receive provincial government services in the official language of their choice.
The New Brunswick government ofRichard Hatfield(1970–87) cooperated with theGovernment of Canadain including the right to linguistic equality in the province as a part of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsof 1982, so that it cannot be rescinded by any future provincial government.
Nova Scotia adopted Bill 65 in 1981 to give Acadian schools legal status, and also created a study program including Acadian history and culture. The Acadian schools were placed under separate management in 1996.
Prince Edward Island provided French-language schools in 1980 in areas with a sufficient number of Acadian students, followed by a French-language school commission for the province in 1990. In 2000 a decision of theSupreme Court of Canadaobliged the provincial government to build French schools at least inCharlottetownandSummerside, the two largest communities.
The new French-language daily newspaperL'Acadie Nouvellepublished inCaraquetappeared in 1984, replacing L’Évangeline which ceased publication in 1982.
The series of Acadian National Conventions from 1881 to 1972 was followed by an Acadian National Orientation Convention in 1979 atEdmundston.Since 1994, there has been a new series ofAcadian World Congressesat five-year intervals starting with 1994 in southeastern New Brunswick and 1999 in Louisiana. The most recent was centered inSummerside, Prince Edward Islandin 2019.
The following list includes those who were born in Acadia (yet not necessarily of Acadian ethnicity) or those who becamenaturalizedcitizens prior to the fall of the French in the region in 1763. Those who came for brief periods from other countries are not included (e.g.John Gorham,Edward Cornwallis,James Wolfe,Boishébert, etc.).
Acadia was in territory disputed between France and Great Britain. England controlled the area from 1621 to 1632 (seeWilliam Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling) and again from 1654 until 1670 (seeWilliam CrowneandThomas Temple), with control permanently regained by its successor state, theKingdom of Great Britain, in 1710 (ceded under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713). Although France controlled the territory in the remaining periods, French monarchs consistently neglected Acadia.Civil government under the French regime was held by a series of Governors (seeList of governors of Acadia). The government of New France was in Quebec, but it had only nominal authority over the Acadians.
The Acadians implemented village self-rule.Even after Canada had given up its elected spokesmen, the Acadians continued to demand a say in their own government, as late as 1706 petitioning the monarchy to allow them to elect spokesmen each year by a plurality of voices. In a sign of his indifference to the colony,Louis XVagreed to their demand.This representative assembly was a direct offshoot of a government system that developed out of the seigneurial and church parish imported from Europe. The seigneurial system was a "set of legal regimes and practices pertaining to local landholding, politics, economics, and jurisprudence."Many of the French governors of Acadia prior toHector d'Andigné de Grandfontaineheld seigneuries in Acadia. As Seigneur, in addition to the power held as governor, they held the right to grant land, collect their seigneurial rents, and act in judgement over disputes within their domain.After Acadia came under direct Royal rule under Grandfontaine the Seigneurs continued to fulfill governance roles. 
The Acadian seignuerial system came to an end when the British Crown bought the seigneurial rights in the 1730s.
The Catholic parish system along with the accompanying parish priest also aided in the development Acadian self-government. Priests, given their respected position, often assisted the community in representation with the civil government at Port Royal/Annapolis Royal. Within each parish the Acadians used the electedmarguilliers(wardens) of theconseil de fabriqueto administer more than just the churches' affairs in the parishes. The Acadians extended this system to see to the administrative needs of the community in general. The Acadians protected this structure from the priests and were "No mere subordinates to clerical authority, wardens were 'always suspicious of any interference by the priests' in the life of the rural parish, an institution which was, ... , largely a creation of the inhabitants."During the British regime many of the deputies were drawn from thismarguilliergroup.
The Acadians occupied a borderland region of the British and French empires. As such the Acadian homeland was subjected to the ravages of war on numerous occasions. Through experience the Acadians learned to distrust imperial authorities (British and French). This is evidenced in a small way when Acadians were uncooperative with census takers.Administrators complained of constant in-fighting among the population, which filed many petty civil suits with colonial magistrates. Most of these were over boundary lines, as the Acadians were very quick to protect their new lands.
After 1710, the British military administration continued to utilize the deputy system the Acadians had developed under French colonial rule. Prior to 1732 the deputies were appointed by the governor from men in the districts of Acadian families "as ancientest and most considerable in Lands & possessions,".This appears to be in contravention of variousBritish penal lawswhich made it nearly impossible for Roman Catholics and Protestant recusants to hold military and government positions. The need for effective administration and communication in many of the British colonies trumped the laws.
In 1732, the governance institution was formalized. Under the formalized system the colony was divided into eight districts. Annually on October 11 free elections were to take place where each district, depending on its size, was to elect two, three, or four deputies. In observance of the Lord's Day, if October 11 fell on a Sunday the elections were to take place on the immediately following Monday. Notice of the annual election was to be given in all districts thirty days before the election date. Immediately following election, deputies, both outgoing and incoming, were to report to Annapolis Royal to receive the governor's approval and instructions. Prior to 1732 deputies had complained about the time and expense of holding office and carrying out their duties. Under the new elected deputy system each district was to provide for the expenses of their elected deputies.
The duties of the deputies were broad and included reporting to the government in council the affairs of the districts, distribution of government proclamations, assistance in the settlement of various local disputes (primarily related to land), and ensuring that various weights and measures used in trade were "Conformable to the Standard".
In addition to deputies, several other public positions existed. Each district had a clerk who worked closely with the deputies and under his duties recorded the records and orders of government, deeds and conveyances, and kept other public records. With the rapid expansion of the Acadian populace, there was also a growing number of cattle and sheep. The burgeoning herds and flocks, often free-ranging, necessitated the creation of the position of Overseer of Flocks. These individuals controlled where the flocks grazed, settled disputes and recorded the names of individuals slaughtering animals to ensure proper ownership. Skins and hides were inspected for brands.
After the purchase by the British Crown of the seigniorial rights in Acadia, various rents and fees were due to the Crown. In the Minas, Piziquid and Cobequid Districts the seigniorial fees were collected by the "Collector & Receiver of All His Majesty's Quit Rents, Dues, or Revenues". The Collector was to keep a record of all rents and other fees collected, submit the rents to Annapolis Royal, and retain fifteen percent to cover his expenses.
Before 1654, trading companies and patent holders concerned with fishing recruited men in France to come to Acadia to work at the commercial outposts.The original Acadian population was a small number ofindentured servantsand soldiers brought by the fur-trading companies.
Gradually, fishermen began settling in the area as well, rather than return to France with the seasonal fishing fleet.The majority of the recruiting took place atLa Rochelle. Between 1653 and 1654, 104 men were recruited at La Rochelle. Of these, 31% were builders, 15% were soldiers and sailors, 8% were food preparers, 6.7% were farm workers, and an additional 6.7% worked in the clothing trades.Fifty-five percent of Acadia's first families came from western and southwestern France, primarily fromPoitou,Aquitaine,Angoumois, andSaintonge. Over 85% of these (47% of the total), were former residents of the La Chaussée area of Poitou.
Many of the families who arrived in 1632 withIsaac de Razillyshared some blood ties; those not related by blood shared cultural ties with the others.The number of original immigrants was very small, and only about 100 surnames existed within the Acadian community.
Many of the earliest French settlers in Acadia intermarried with the localMi'kmaqtribe.
AParisianlawyer, Marc Lescarbot, who spent just over a year in Acadia, arriving in May 1606, described the Micmac as having "courage, fidelity, generosity, and humanity, and their hospitality is so innate and praiseworthy that they receive among them every man who is not an enemy. They are not simpletons. ... So that if we commonly call them Savages, the word is abusive and unmerited."
Most of the immigrants to Acadia were poor peasants in France, making them social equals in this new context. The colony had very limited economic support or cultural contacts with France, leaving a "social vacuum" that allowed "individual talents and industry ... [to supplant] inherited social position as the measure of a man's worth."Acadians lived as social equals, with the elderly and priests considered slightly superior.
Unlike the French colonists in Canada and the early English colonies inPlymouthandJamestown, Acadians maintained an extended kinship system,and the large extended families assisted in building homes and barns, as well as cultivating and harvesting crops.They also relied on interfamily cooperation to accomplish community goals, such as building dikes to reclaim tidal marshes.
Marriages were generally not love matches but were arranged for economic or social reasons. Parental consent was required for anyone under 25 who wished to marry, and both the mother's and father's consent was recorded in the marriage deed.Divorce was not permitted in New France, and annulments were almost impossible to get. Legal separation was offered as an option but was seldom used.
The Acadians were suspicious of outsiders and on occasion did not readily cooperate with census takers. The first reliable population figures for the area came with the census of 1671, which noted fewer than 450 people. By 1714, the Acadian population had expanded to 2,528 individuals, mostly from natural increase rather than immigration.Most Acadian women in the 18th century gave birth to living children an average of eleven times. Although these numbers are identical to those in Canada, 75% of Acadian children reached adulthood, many more than in other parts of New France. The isolation of the Acadian communities meant the people were not exposed to many of the imported epidemics, allowing the children to remain healthier.
In 1714, a few Acadian families emigrated toÎle Royale. These families had little property. But for the majority of Acadians, they could not be enticed by the French government to abandon their family lands for an area which was unknown and uncultivated.
Some Acadians migrated to nearbyÎle Saint-Jean(now Prince Edward Island) to take advantage of the fertile cropland. In 1732, the island had 347 settlers but within 25 years its population had expanded to 5000 Europeans.Much of the population surge on Île Saint-Jean took place in the 1750s, as Acadians left during the rising tensions on peninsular Nova Scotia after the settlement of Halifax in 1749. Le Loutre played a role in these removals through acts of encouragement and threats. The exodus to Île Saint-Jean became a flood with refugees fleeing British-held territory after the initial expulsions of 1755.
In contemporary Atlantic Canada, it is estimated that there are 300,000 French-speaking Acadians.In addition, there is a diaspora of over three million Acadian descendants in the world, primarily in the United States, in Canada outside the Atlantic region, and in France.
Most Acadian households were self-sufficient,with families engaged in subsistence farming only for a few years while they established their farms.Very rapidly the Acadians established productive farms that yielded surplus crops that allowed them to trade with both Boston and Louisbourg.Farms tended to remain small plots of land worked by individual families rather than slave labor.The highly productive dyked marshlands and cleared uplands produced an abundance of fodder that supported significant production of cows, sheep and pigs. Farmers grew various grains: wheat, oats, barley, hops and rye; vegetables: peas, cabbage, turnips, onions, carrots, chives, shallots, asparagus, parsnips and beets; fruit: apples, pears, cherries, plums, raspberry and white strawberry.In addition they grew crops of hemp and flax for the production of cloth, rope, etc.
From the rivers, estuaries and seas they harvested shad, smelts, gaspereau, cod, salmon, bass, etc., utilizing fish traps in the rivers, weirs in the inter-tidal zone and from the sea with lines and nets from their boats. The fishery was pursued on a commercial basis as in 1715 at the Minas Basin settlements, when the Acadian population there numbered only in the hundreds, they had "between 30 - 40 sail of vessels, built by themselves, which they employ in fishing" reported Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Caulfield to the Board of Trade.Charles Morris observed the Acadians at Minas hunting beluga whales.The Acadians also varied their diets by hunting for moose, hare, ducks and geese, and pigeon.
After 1630, the Acadians began to build dikes and drain the sea marsh above Port Royal. The high salinity of the reclaimed coastal marshland meant that the land would need to sit for three years after it was drained before it could be cultivated.The land reclamation techniques that were used closely resembled the enclosures near La Rochelle that helped make solar salt.
As time progressed, the Acadian agriculture improved, and Acadians traded with the British colonies inNew Englandto gain ironware, fine cloth, rum, and salt. During the French administration of Acadia, this trade was illegal, but it did not stop some English traders from establishing small stores in Port Royal.Under English rule, the Acadians traded with New England and often smuggled their excess food to Boston merchants waiting at Baie Verte for transshipment to the French at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island.
Many adult sons who did not inherit land from their parents settled on adjacent vacant lands to remain close to their families.As the Acadian population expanded and available land became limited around Port Royal, new settlements took root to the northeast, in the UpperBay of Fundy, including Mines, Pisiquid, andBeaubassin. Many of the pioneers into that area persuaded some of their relatives to accompany them, and most of the frontier settlements contained only five to ten interrelated family units.
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