The Acadians drained marshlands with ditches and then built dykes to hold the ocean back. This gave them fertile farmland. Source: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/ arch/infos/infoaca2.htm

They called the region in which they lived Acadia. (See a map of Acadia as it was in 1744 at end of this story.) They ran successful farms in Acadia and enjoyed a peaceful life, but all that changed 100 years later.

England and France were at war during much of the 1700s. The fighting spread to North America. The English eventually gained control of Acadia. Having thousands of French-speaking Acadians living in the area made the English nervous. There was probably nothing to be nervous about. The Acadians had been working their farms for many years on their own. It is unlikely they felt much loyalty to far-away France. However, there was another reason the British didn’t want them there—the Acadians had the best farmland and the British wanted it for themselves.

A Tragic Event

In 1755 a tragic event took place. The English deported thousands of Acadians. This came to be known as the Expulsion of the Acadians. Many were sent to the American colonies. But, the colony of Virginia refused to take the Acadians and they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to England. Once they got to England, they were taken as prisoners of war.

In 1758, after the final defeat of the French at Louisbourg, there was another deportation. This time, the remaining Acadians were sent to France. At least two of the ships carrying a total of 600 Acadian men, women and children, sunk in winter storms.