The Expulsion of the Acadians: Annapolis and Beausejour

One statement has been very industriously circulated by French writers with a view to throw odium on the transaction. They say that the Acadians were expelled "because the greedy English colonists looked upon their fair farms with covetous eyes," and that the government was influenced by these persons. A more flagrant untruth never was told. . . . None of the lands of the Acadians were settled by the English until several years after the French were expelled, and not until most of the lands had gone back to a state of nature in consequence of the breaking of the dikes. . . . Five years elapsed after the expulsion before the noble diked lands of Grand Pre were occupied by English settlers, and the lands of Annapolis were not occupied by the English until nine or ten years after the French had left them. . . . From motives of economy, if for no other reason, it was considered highly desirable that the Acadians should remain on their lands, in order that they might supply the garrisons with provisions at a fair price, and so reduce the cost of maintaining them. It was also felt that the French, if they could be induced to become loyal subjects, would be a great source of strength to the colony, from their knowledge of wood-craft and from their friendly relations with the Indians. It was, therefore, on no pretext that this desire to keep the French in the province -- which is attested by more than forty years of forbearance -- was succeeded by a determination to remove them from it. . . . It must be remembered that in 1755 England was entering on a great war with France, which, although it ended disastrously for the latter power, certainly commenced with the balance of advantage in her favor. In such a death-struggle, it was evident that there was no room for half-way measures, and that a weak policy would almost certainly be fatal to British power. Ever since the treaty of Utrecht, a period of more than forty years, the Acadians had lived on their lands without complying with the terms on which they were to be permitted to retain them, which was to become British subjects. Although the soil upon which they lived was British territory, they claimed to be regarded as "Neutrals," not liable to be called upon to bear arms either for or against the English. Their neutrality, however, did not prevent them from aiding the French to the utmost of their power and throwing every possible embarrassment in the way of the English. It did not prevent many of them from joining with the Indians in attacks on the garrison at Annapolis and on other English fortified posts in Acadia. It did not prevent them from carrying their cattle and grain to Louisburg, Beausejour, and the river St. John, instead of to Halifax and Annapolis, when England and France were at war. It did not prevent them from maintaining a constant correspondence with the enemies of England, or from acting the part of spies on the English and keeping Vergor at Beausejour informed of the exact state of their garrisons from time to time. It did not prevent them from being on friendly terms with the savages, who beset the English so closely that an English settler could scarcely venture beyond his barn, or an English soldier beyond musket-shot of his fort, for fear of being killed and scalped.

The Acadians seem to have been badly advised. No interference was attempted with their religion, yet some of their priests acted as political agents of France, used all their influence to keep alive hostility to the English, and induced many of the inhabitants to emigrate from the province. Several thousand Acadians in all thus emigrated, fourteen hundred of whom, led by a French officer, remained on the borders of the province, armed, and reinforced by a large body of Indians. This fact made the authorities more persistent in their efforts to force the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance, and induced them to adopt measures to disarm them. Acadian deputies soon after came to Halifax, demanding that their guns should be restored, but persistently refusing to take the oath "to be faithful and loyal to his majesty George Second." Other negotiations ensued, but the deputies were determined to take no oath except one with a reservation that they should not be obliged to take up arms. Governor Lawrence insisted that they should become full British subjects, or they could not be permitted to remain in the country, declaring that they had always secretly aided the Indians, and many of them openly taken up arms against the British. To this they replied that they were determined, one and all, to quit their lands rather than take any other oath than that they had already taken.

On Monday, the 28th of July, the final memorial of the inhabitants was received. They all firmly refused to take the unconditional oath of allegiance to the British government. In consequence, it was decided to expel them from the province.]