“To consider of some method to save the Province of the great and growing Expense arising on account of the…French Inhabitants of Nova Scotia now in the Province.”
- Charge to Massachusetts legislative committee, 1757
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Deportation of the Acadians. - Wikimedia Commons
Security Concerns
Several towns expressed concern about the considerable French population in a time of war. Penalties were voted for leaving towns without permission, three hours in the stocks for a first offense, whipping “not to exceed ten stripes” for the second. Charlestown requested the removal of French detainees because of the location of a powder house. One “dangerous family” was sent inland to Spenser. Overall, serious acts of violence or sabotage were not recorded.
Dedham Town Report
Towns submitted itemized
expenses for Acadians in their
care. Dedham included these
descriptions, “an Old woman,
not able to do much work, one
girl somewhat shiftless…a boy
about eleven who is an Idiot and
so very mischievously disposed
as make it extremely difficult for
ye Selectmen to get quarters for
him.” Massachusetts Archives
- Massachusetts Archives
Acadian Petitions
Acadian exiles submitted petitions to the Massachusetts government on a variety of concerns. Some children were separated from parents or “bound out to service.” Some Acadians sought permission to relocate for greater opportunities. One “Petitioner is by employment a Fisherman which cannot be exercised at Lancaster” – forty miles inland.
Grand Pre Memorial Church and Evangeline Statue. Dr. Wilson. - Tourism Nova Scotia, Canada
Common Humanity
Over time some sympathy developed for the plight of the Acadians. In 1758 the legislature voted that “the sick, infirm and aged who cannot Labour be maintained as the expense of this government.” Officials were instructed to “take care they are not defrauded.” In 1765, as the French and Indian War was ending, a report expressed alarm that they are "in danger of perishing unless immediately delivered by this court.” At war’s end 800 returned to Canada.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Thomas Y.
- Crowell Company
Evangeline
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline” told the fictional story of Evangeline and Gabriel, lovers who were separated by the Acadian expulsion. His sympathetic portrait helped preserve historical interest in the story in later generations. Louisiana “Cajuns,” descendants of Acadian exiles, continue to commemorate the Evangeline story.