August 11: Deportation of the Acadians
Prayer Idea
Pray for people with Acadian and Cajun heritage.
History Note
The French settled what they called Acadia in the 17th century. This area on the Atlantic coast included what are now the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and the U.S. state of Maine. As the British were also settling North America during this time, control of Acadia passed back and forth between Britain and France.
In 1755 Britain and France were entering another period of conflict that would become known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763, also known as the French and Indian War). The British and French, along with their allies, fought a global war in Europe, North America, and South Asia.
On August 11, 1755, during the tension leading up to this war, the British military received orders to begin the deportation of French-speaking Acadians to prevent them from supporting the French in future conflicts. This event is known in French as Le Grand Dérangement (“The Great Upheaval”).
Over the next several years, perhaps 10,000 Acadians were forcibly removed from their homes. Some were imprisoned. Most were simply sent away. Some ended up in France, in Quebec, or in other North American colonies. Thousands died from starvation, disease, or shipwreck.
A few thousand Acadians eventually ended up in French-speaking Louisiana. Their descendants developed the Cajun culture that is still significant there.
Some Acadians managed to evade capture, and others eventually moved back to the Maritime provinces of Canada. In 2003 Queen Elizabeth II, in her role as Queen of Canada, issued a proclamation acknowledging “the trials and suffering experienced by the Acadian people during the Great Upheaval.”
The Deportation of the Acadians by Henri Beau (Canadian, c. 1900)
Learn More
This Heritage Minute from Historica Canada portrays the deportation through the eyes of an Acadian mother.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
