My Oldest IMMIGRANT Ancestor
Pierre VINCENT (1631 - 1686) arr. May 1654 Port Royal, NS aboard the Chateaufort
Relationship to Me
SEVENTH Great Grand-Father
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History of the Name
"Acadia"
Acadia has its origins
in the explorations of Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer serving the
king of France. In 1524-25 he explored the Atlantic coast of North America and
gave the name "Archadia", or “Arcadia” in Italian, to a region near
the present-day American state of Delaware. In 1566, the cartographer
Bolongnini Zaltieri gave a similar name, "Larcadia," to an area far
to the northeast that was to become Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The 1524
notes of Portuguese explorer Estêvão Gomes also included Newfoundland as part
of the area he called “Arcadie” (see also Acadia).
French Presence
(1534--1713)
The first French
colonists did not arrive, however, until 1604 under the leadership of Pierre du
Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain. De Monts settled the 80-odd colonists at
Île Sainte-Croix on the St Croix River. The winter of 1604–05 was disastrous,
scurvy killing at least 36 men.
The next year the colony
looked for a new site and chose Port-Royal. When some French merchants
challenged his commercial monopoly, de Monts took everyone back to France in
1607; French colonists did not return until 1610. During this time the French
formed alliances with the two main Aboriginal peoples of Acadia, the Mi’kmaqs
and the Maliseet.
Factors other than
commercial rivalry stifled Acadia's development. In 1613 Samuel Argall, an
adventurer from Virginia, seized Acadia and chased out most of its settlers. In
1621 the government renamed Acadia Nova Scotia and moved in the Scottish
settlers of Sir William Alexander (1629). France appointed Charles La Tour as
lieutenant-general of Acadia in 1631, however, and he built strongholds at Cape
Sable and at the mouth of the Saint John River (Fort La Tour, later Saint
John). Alexander's project of Scottish expansion was cut short in 1632 by the
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which allowed France to regain Acadia.
Renewed Presence and
Settlement
Renewed settlement took
place under Governor Isaac de Razilly, who moved the capital from Port-Royal to
La Hève, on the south shore of present-day Nova Scotia. He arrived in 1632,
with "300 gentlemen of quality" (see Lahave). A sailor by trade,
Razilly was more interested in sea-borne trade than in agriculture and this
influenced his decision where to establish settlements. As early as 1613 French
missionaries participated in the colonial venture. By the 1680s a few wooden
churches with resident priests were established.
Razilly died in 1635,
leaving Charles de Menou D'Aulnay and La Tour to quarrel over his succession.
D'Aulnay moved the capital back to Port-Royal, then proceeded to wage civil war
against La Tour, who was solidly established in the region. D'Aulnay was
convinced that the colony's future lay in agricultural development that assured
both self-sufficiency in food supply and a stable population. Before his death
in 1650, D'Aulnay was responsible for the arrival of some 20 families. With the
arrival of families, agricultural production was stabilized and adequate food
and clothing became available.
French-English enmity
once again affected Acadia's fate, causing it to pass to the English in 1654
and back to the French through the Treaty of Breda (1667). It was taken by the
New England adventurer Sir William Phips in 1690 and returned to France again
through the Treaty of Ryswick (1697).
Establishment of New
Colonies
Starting in the 1670s,
colonists left Port-Royal to found other centres, the most important being
Beaubassin (Amherst, Nova Scotia) and Grand-Pré (now Grand Pre, Nova Scotia).
The first official census, held in 1671, registered an Acadian population of
more than 400 people, 200 of which lived in Port-Royal. In 1701 there were
about 1400; in 1711, some 2500; in 1750, over 10 000; and in 1755, over 13 000
(Louisbourg excluded).
These highly
self-reliant Acadians farmed and raised livestock on marsh lands drained by a
technique of tide-adaptable barriers called aboiteaux, making dikeland
agriculture possible. They hunted, fished and trapped as well; they even had
commercial ties with the English colonists in America, usually against the
wishes of the French authorities. Acadians considered themselves
"neutrals" since Acadia had been transferred a few times between the
French and the English. By not taking sides, they hoped to avoid military
backlash.
Peninsular Acadia was
not the only region with a French population along the Atlantic. In the 1660s,
France established a fishing colony at its post Plaisance (now Placentia,
Newfoundland). In both regions the French population appeared to enjoy a fairly
high standard of living. Easy access to land and the absence of strict regulations
allowed the Acadians to lead a relatively autonomous existence. A vital
contribution to the survival of the Acadians was made by the Mi’kmaqs. At the
end of the 17th century aboriginal peoples exerted considerable influence on
the Acadians due to their knowledge of the woods and the land.
Into the Hands of the
English
Following the War of
Spanish Succession (1701-13), Acadia passed definitively into the hands of the
English. Through the Treaty of Utrecht, Plaisance was ceded along with the
territory which consisted of "Acadia according to its ancient
boundaries," but France and England failed to agree on a definition of
those boundaries. For the French, the territory included only the present
peninsular Nova Scotia, but the English claimed, in addition, what is today New
Brunswick, the Gaspé and Maine.
Difficult Neighbours
(1713-63)
Following the loss of
"Ancient Acadia", France concentrated on developing Île Saint-Jean
(Prince Edward Island) and Île Royale (Cape Breton Island), two largely ignored
regions until that time. On Île Royale, Louisbourg was chosen as the new
capital. Louisbourg had three roles: a new fishing post to replace Plaisance; a
strong military presence; and a centre for trade. Île St-Jean was more looked
upon as the agricultural extension of Île Royale.
Even though the terms of
the Treaty of Utrecht provided for the theoretical departure of the Acadians,
they showed little initiative to move to the new French colonies because of the
lack of marshes that were so vital to their agricultural system. As well, the
British authorities at Port-Royal (renamed Annapolis Royal) did not facilitate
the transfer but rather interfered in its process. They were worried about the
emptying of the colony of its population and the subsequent increase in the
population of Île Royale. Acadian farmers were also needed to provide
subsistence for the garrison.
Except for the garrison
at Port-Royal, the English made virtually no further attempt at colonization
until 1749 in what was once again named Nova Scotia. From 1713 to 1744, the
small English presence and a long peace allowed the Acadian population to grow
at a pace which surpassed the average of this whole era. To some historians, it
is considered Acadia's "Golden Age."
England demanded of its
conquered subjects an oath of unconditional loyalty, but the Acadians agreed
only to an oath of neutrality. Unable to impose the unconditional oath,
Governor Richard Philipps in 1729–30 gave his verbal agreement to this
semi-allegiance.
In 1745, during the War
of the Austrian Succession, Louisbourg fell to an English expeditionary force
whose land army was largely composed of New England colonists. However, France
regained the fortress through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), to the
great displeasure of the New England colonies. It was in this context that
England decided to make the Nova Scotian territory "truly" British.
Deportation
In 1749 the capital was
moved from Annapolis Royal to Halifax. Intended to serve as both a military and
a commercial counterweight to Louisbourg, Halifax was selected because it was a
better seaport and was far from the Acadian population centres. England finally
took steps to bring its own settlers into the colony. They came primarily from
England and from German territories with British connections (Hanover,
Brunswick, etc). From 1750 to 1760, an estimated 7000 British colonists and
2400 Germans arrived to settle in Nova Scotia.
The French authorities
reacted by building Fort Beausejour in 1751 (near Sackville, New Brunswick) to
keep the English from crossing the Isthmus of Chignecto into their
"new" Acadia. The British wanted to keep an eye on the French and
their Mi’kmaq allies, and so constructed Fort Lawrence. They also wanted to
protect potential English settlers and stop any possible invasion by land
coming from Canada.
With Louisbourg and
Canada in the north, Fort Beauséjour in the east and an Acadian population
viewed as a potential rebellious threat, the British authorities in Halifax
decided to settle the Acadian question once and for all: by refusing to pledge
an unconditional oath of allegiance, the population risked deportation. The
British first captured Fort Beauséjour and then again demanded an unconditional
pledge of allegiance to England.
Caught between English
threats and fear of French and aboriginal retaliation, Acadian representatives
were summoned to appear before Governor Charles Lawrence. Taking the advice of
Father Le Loutre, the representatives initially refused to make the pledge, but
they ultimately decided to accept. In 1755, Lawrence, dissatisfied with an oath
pledged with reluctance, executed the plans for deportation.
The Politico-Social
Context of the Deportation
The deportation occurred
as a result of the contemporary geopolitical situation and was not an
individual choice made by Lawrence. He knew that English troops under General
Braddock had just been bitterly defeated by French armed forces in the Ohio
Valley (see Fort Duquesne). Fears of a combined attack by Louisbourg and Canada
against Nova Scotia, theoretically joined by the Acadians and the Mi’kmaq,
explains, to a certain degree, the order for deportation.
The deportation process,
once instigated, lasted from 1755 to 1762. The settlers were put into ships and
deported to English colonies along the eastern seaboard as far south as
Georgia. Others managed to flee to French territory or to hide in the woods. It
is estimated that three-quarters of the Acadian population were deported; the
rest avoided this fate through flight. An unknown number of Acadians perished
from hunger or disease; a few ships full of exiles sank on the high seas with
their human cargo.
In 1756 the Seven Years'
War broke out between France and England. The two French colonies, Île Royale
and Île Saint-Jean, fell in 1758. Being French subjects, their settlers were
expelled and repatriated to France. More than 3000 settlers were deported from
Île Saint-Jean alone, half of them losing their lives by drowning or through
disease. The Treaty of Paris (1763) definitively put an end to the French
colonial presence in the Maritimes and in all of New France.
The Founding of a New
Acadia (1763-1880)
After 1763 the Maritimes
took on a decidedly English face when New England planters settled on lands
earlier inhabited by the Acadians. English names replaced French or Mi’kmaq
ones almost everywhere. The English at first reorganized the territory into a
single province, Nova Scotia. In 1769, however, they detached the former Île
Saint-Jean, which became a separate province under the name of Saint John's
Island; it received its present name of Prince Edward Island in 1799. In 1784
present-day New Brunswick was in turn separated from Nova Scotia, following the
arrival of American Loyalists who demanded their own colonial administration.
As for the Acadians,
they began the long and painful process of resettling themselves in their
native land. England gave them permission once they finally agreed to take the
contentious oath of allegiance. Some returned from exile, but the resettlement
was largely the work of fugitives who had escaped deportation and of the
prisoners of Beauséjour, Pigiguit, Port-Royal and Halifax who were finally set
free.
They headed for Cape
Breton, where they established themselves along the coast by the Île Madame and
on the island itself; for the southwest tip of the Nova Scotia peninsula and
along St Mary's Bay; and to northwestern New Brunswick (Madawaska). A small
number also established in Prince Edward Island, but the majority of Acadians
went to the eastern parts of New Brunswick.
Economic Decline
The British authorities
preferred to see the Acadians spread out over the territory and the Acadians themselves
accommodated this directive, since it allowed them to avoid the regions with a
British majority. British settlers then, in the majority of the cases, occupied
the lands formerly owned by the Acadians.
Most Acadians, except
for those on Prince Edward Island and in Madawaska, found themselves on less
fertile land, and so these former farmers became fishermen or lumberers,
cultivating their land only for subsistence. As fishermen, they were exploited
and subjected to great dependence and poverty, especially by companies from the
Isle of Jersey.
In 1746, the British
Crown annihilated the Scottish Catholics in the Culloden massacre. The
Protestant Crown stripped the Acadians of their civil and political rights
because they too were Catholics; they could neither vote nor be members of the
legislature. From 1758 to 1763, they could not even legally own land. Nova
Scotian Acadians gained the right to vote in 1789; those in New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island in 1810. After 1830 Acadians could sit in the legislatures
of all three colonies following the enactment of the Roman Catholic Relief Act.
Seeds of a New Acadia
In general, Acadians at
the start of the 19th century had virtually no institutions of their own: the
Catholic clergy came either from Québec or France, and the church was the only
French institution in all the Maritimes.
There were few
francophone schools and teachers, for the most part, were simple
"travelling masters" who spread their knowledge from village to
village. There was no French newspaper. Nor were there any lawyers or doctors.
In fact, there was, as yet, no Acadian middle class. However, whether they were
conscious of it or not, these Acadians sowed the seeds of a new Acadia in the
soil, without any help from the state.
At the start of the 19th
century, there were 4000 Acadians in Nova Scotia, 700 in Prince Edward Island,
and 3800 in New Brunswick. Their establishment and growth during that century
was remarkable: they counted some 87 000 at the time of Confederation and 140
000 at the turn of the century.
Growth of Collective
Awareness and Identity
The Acadians began to
express themselves as a people during the 1830s. They elected their first
members to the legislatures of the three Maritime provinces in the 1840s and
1850s. The poem Evangeline (1847) by American author Henry W. Longfellow went
through several French translations and had an undeniable impact.
In Acadia itself, a
pastor born in Québec, François-Xavier Lafrance, in 1854 opened the first
French-language institution of higher learning, the Séminaire Saint-Joseph, New
Brunswick. It closed in 1862 but was reopened two years later by Québec priests
of the congregation of the Holy Cross under the name of Collège Saint-Joseph
(later amalgamated into the University of Moncton). Then, in 1867, the first
French-language paper in the Maritimes, Le Moniteur Acadien, was established in
Shédiac, New Brunswick. This paper was followed by L'Évangéline, the longest
lasting (1887-1982), in Digby, Nova Scotia, and in 1893 by L'Impartial in
Tignish, Prince Edward Island.
Religious orders of
women were also coming to Acadia where they played a vital role in education
and health care. The Sisters of the order of Notre Dame of Montréal opened
boarding schools in Prince Edward Island at Miscouche (1864) and Tignish
(1868). Also in 1868, the Sisters of Saint Joseph took charge of the lazaretto
at Tracadie (now Tracadie-Sheila), New Brunswick. They also established
themselves in Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, where their boarding school would
eventually become Maillet College.
Just prior to
Confederation, Acadians announced themselves in a spectacular way on the
Maritime political scene. In New Brunswick, a majority of Acadians voted
against Confederation on two different occasions. Though a large number of
politicians accused them of being reactionary, it should be noted that these
populations were not the only ones in the Maritimes to oppose Confederation.
The Nationalist Age
(1881-1950)
As of the 1860s, an
Acadian middle-class had begun to take shape. Though Saint-Joseph College and
Sainte-Anne College (1890) in Church Point, Nova Scotia, definitely contributed
to the emergence of an intellectual elite, there were at least four elite
categories in Acadia. The two most conspicuous were the clergy and the members
of the liberal professions (ie, doctors and lawyers). But even though Acadian
farmers and tradesmen did not profit from the same financial resources as their
English-speaking counterparts, a number of them, nonetheless, succeeded in
distinguishing themselves.
As of 1881, Acadian
national conventions became forums where Acadians could establish a consensus
of opinion about important projects such as the promotion of agricultural
development, education in French and the Acadianization of the Catholic clergy.
Assemblies were held intermittently in different Acadian localities until 1930.
Acadians founded the
Société Nationale de l'Acadie whose purpose was to promote the French fact.
National symbols were chosen: a flag (the French tricolour with a yellow star
in the blue stripe), a national holiday (the Feast of the Assumption,
celebrated on August 15), a slogan ("L'union fait la force") and a
national anthem (Ave Maris Stella). One of the larger victories was of
Monseigneur Edouard le Blanc's appointment in 1912 as Acadia's first bishop.
Also between 1881 and
1925 at least three Acadian religious orders of women were formed. The convents
run by these orders made an important contribution to improving the education
of Acadian women and enhancing the cultural life of the community. These female
orders also founded the first colleges for girls in Acadia, at Memramcook, New
Brunswick (1913), Saint-Basile, New Brunswick (1949) and Shippagan, New
Brunswick (1960).
Urbanization
The period was also
characterized by an important socioeconomic turning point: the full integration
of Acadians into the mainstream of Canadian industrialization and urbanization.
Though the migration of Acadians to the cities was less pronounced than in
other parts of Canada, a large number of them nevertheless moved to Moncton,
Yarmouth and Amherst and the cities of New England to work in factories (men)
and mills (women).
Certain members of the
Acadian elite considered this to be a dangerous development towards
assimilation into the Anglo-Saxon masses. Colonization movements from 1880 to
1940 were intended to hold back the numbers of people in exile; to divert
Acadians from the largely foreign company-owned fisheries industry; and to help
families fight the harsh realities of the Great Depression. The Co-Operative
Movement (see also Antigonish Movement) in the 1930s finally allowed fishermen,
after generations of exploitation, to regain control of their livelihood.
Certain distinctive
regional features also emerged. Because of their larger numbers, the New
Brunswick Acadians took the lead in speaking for Acadians as a whole.
Cultural Recognition
In the 1950s, Acadians
started to make an impact at many levels on the economy, the politics and the
culture of the Maritime Provinces. By preserving their values and culture at
home, they were able to develop a French education system (mainly in New
Brunswick). The vigour and distinctiveness of their culture shielded them from
the devastation of assimilation and helped them to be recognized as a minority
people within the Maritimes.
In terms of advantages,
almost all Acadians have access to an education in French. St. Anne University
in Nova Scotia and the University of Moncton in New Brunswick provide
francophones with the choice of two post-secondary educational institutions
offering full programs in French. The Liberal government of Premier Louis B.
Robichaud made New Brunswick officially bilingual in 1969 (which does not,
however, guarantee municipal services in French).
CREDIT
The Canadian Encyclopedia
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