Acadia 128607 225904593 2008-07-15T23:11:18Z Aaker 718252 :''This article details the region of northeastern [[North America]]'' :''For the Acadian people and culture see '''[[Acadians]]'''.'' :''For other meanings of the term, see [[Acadia (disambiguation)]]'' {{Infobox Former Subdivision |native_name = ''Acadie'' |conventional_long_name = Acadia |common_name = Acadia |subdivision = Division |nation = New France |image_flag = |image_coat = |image_map = Acadia 1754.png |image_map_caption = Acadia (1754) |national_anthem= |capital = [[Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia|Port-Royal]] |stat_area1= |stat_year1 = |stat_pop1 = |p1= |image_p1 = |s1 = Nova Scotia |flag_s1 = Flag of Nova Scotia.svg |year_start = 1604 |event_end = [[Treaty of Utrecht|English conquest]] |year_end = 1713 |political_subdiv = }} '''Acadia''' (in the [[French language]] '''''Acadie''''') was the name given to lands in a portion of the [[French colonial empires|French colonial empire]] in northeastern [[North America]] that included parts of eastern [[Quebec]], the [[Maritimes|Maritime provinces]], and modern-day [[New England]], stretching as far south as [[Philadelphia]]. The actual specification by the French government for the territory refers to lands bordering the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast, roughly between the 40th and 46th parallels. Later, the territory was divided into the [[United Kingdom|British]] colonies which became [[Canadian provinces]] and [[United States|American]] [[U.S. state|states]]. ==Etymology== The origin of the name Acadia is credited to the explorer [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], who on his sixteenth century map applied the Greek term "[[Arcady|Arcadie]]", meaning the proverbial land of plenty, to the entire Atlantic coast north of [[Virginia]]. Another theory is that Acadia is derived from the [[Mi'kmaq]] term ''akadi'', still found in place names like [[Tracadie]] and [[Shubenacadie]] (or, in the related [[Maliseet]] language, the term ''quoddy,'' seen in [[Passamaquoddy Bay]]), both meaning a "fertile place". The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' says "'Arcadia,' the name Verrazzano gave to Maryland or Virginia 'on account of the beauty of the trees,' made its first cartographical appearance in the 1548 Gastaldo map and is the only name to survive in Canadian usage. It has a curious history. In the 17th century Champlain fixed its present orthography, with the 'r' omitted, and [[William Francis Ganong|Ganong]] has shown its gradual progress northwards, in a succession of maps, to its resting place in the Atlantic Provinces." ==Geography== The Acadian peninsula was a series of coastal lowlands ringed by salt marshes. The area is subject to very high tides – regularly as much as 25 feet in change. The interior of the peninsula was heavily wooded and crisscrossed with creeks, lakes, and bogs.<ref>Faragher, John Mack (2005). A Great and Noble Scheme. W.W. Norton & Co., New York. ISBN 0-393-05135-8</ref> Acadia was very geographically isolated<ref name=brass3>Brasseaux (1987), p. 3.</ref> because transportation overland was difficult and the peninsula was not near the shipping lanes to [[Quebec City]] or [[Boston, Massachusetts]].<ref name=brass10/> Median temperatures in January and February were often 15 to 20 degrees colder than western France, where many of the settlers were from.<ref name=brass11/> ==History== {{main|History of the Acadians}} [[Image:Port Royal, Nova Scotia - circa 1609 - Project Gutenberg etext 20110.jpg|left|thumb|[[Port Royal, Nova Scotia|Port Royal]] circa 1609]] Early European colonists, who would later become known as [[Acadians]], were French subjects primarily from the [[Pleumartin]] to [[Poitiers]] in the [[Vienne]] [[Département|''département'']] of west-central France. The first French settlement was established by [[Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts]], [[List of Acadian governors|Governor of Acadia]], under the authority of [[Henry IV of France|King Henry IV]], on [[Saint Croix Island, New Brunswick|Saint Croix Island]] in 1604. The following year, the settlement was moved across the [[Bay of Fundy]] to [[Port Royal, Nova Scotia|Port Royal]] after a difficult winter on the island and deaths from [[scurvy]]. In 1607 the colony received bad news: King Henry had revoked Sieur de Monts' royal fur monopoly, citing that the income was insufficient to justify supplying the colony further. Thus recalled, the last of the Acadians left Port Royal in August of 1607. Their allies, the native [[Mi'kmaq]] nation, kept careful watch over their possessions, though. When the former Lieutenant Governor, [[Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just]], returned in 1610, he found Port Royal just as it was left. <ref>Faragher, John Mack (2005). ''A Great and Noble Scheme''. W.W. Norton & Co., New York. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-393-05135-8</ref> The French took control of the [[Abenaki]] [[First Nations]] territory. In 1654, King [[Louis XIV of France]] appointed aristocrat [[Nicolas Denys]] as governor of large portions of Acadia and granted him the confiscated lands and the right to all its [[mineral]]s. [[The Netherlands]] asserted sovereignty over Acadia in 1674 after privateer [[Jurriaen Aernoutsz]] captured the forts at [[Fort Pentagouet|Pentagoet]] and [[Jemseg, New Brunswick|Jemseg]]. Control over the region reverted to France when Aernoutsz's appointed administrator, [[John Rhoades]], was captured by New England within a few months. The [[Dutch West India Company]] continued to assert a paper claim over Acadia until 1678, appointing [[Cornelius Van Steenwyk]] as its governor, although they never successfully recaptured actual control of the territory. British colonists captured Acadia in the course of [[King William's War]] (1690–1697), but Britain returned it to France at the peace settlement. It was recaptured in the course of [[Queen Anne's War]] (1702–1713), and its conquest was confirmed in the [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)]]. On [[June 23]] [[1713]], the French residents of Acadia were given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave [[Nova Scotia]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} In the meantime, the French signalled their preparedness for future hostilities by beginning the construction of [[Fortress Louisbourg]] on Isle Royale, now [[Cape Breton Island]]. The British grew increasingly alarmed by the prospect of disloyalty in wartime of the Acadians now under their rule. ===Great Upheaval=== In the summer of 1755, the British attacked [[Fort Beauséjour]] and burned Acadian homes at the outbreak of the [[French and Indian War]] between Britain and France (the North American theatre of the [[Seven Years' War]]), accusing Acadians of disloyalty (for not having taken the oath) and [[guerrilla]] action. Those who still refused to swear loyalty to the British crown then suffered what is referred to as the [[Great Upheaval]] when, over the next three years, some 6,000–7,000 Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia to France or the [[13 colonies|lower British American colonies]]. Others fled deeper into Nova Scotia or into [[Canada, New France|French-controlled Canada]]. The Quebec town of L'Acadie (now a sector of [[Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu]]) was founded by expelled Acadians.<ref>[http://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-richelieu.qc.ca/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=y1_2 Ville de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu history]</ref> After 1764, many exiled Acadians finally settled in [[Louisiana]], which had been transferred by France to Spain before the end of the French and Indian War. The name ''Acadian'' was corrupted to ''[[Cajun]],'' which was first used as a pejorative term until its later mainstream acceptance. Britain allowed some Acadians to return to Nova Scotia, but these were forced to settle in small groups and were not permitted to reside in their former settlements such as [[Grand-Pré]], [[Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia|Port Royal]], and [[Beaubassin]]. ==Government== Acadia was located in territory disputed between France and Great Britain. England controlled the area from 1654 until 1670 and control was permanently regained by its successor state, the [[United Kingdom Of Great Britain]], in 1713. Although France controlled the territory in the remaining periods, French monarchs consistently neglected Acadia, failing to contribute much, if at all, to its defence, development, colonization, or administration, leaving the colonists to rely on themselves.<ref name=moogk7/> The government of New France was located in Quebec, but it had only nominal authority over the Acadians.<ref name-moogk9>Moogk (2000), p. 9.</ref> Landlords owned wide swaths of the land, and while they sometimes collected dues from the settlers, they exercised no other legal powers.<ref name=moogk175>Moogk (2000), p. 175.</ref> With no strong royal authority, the Acadians implemented village self-rule.<ref name=moogk176>Moogk (2000), p. 176.</ref> Even after Canada had given up its elected spokesmen, the Acadians continued to demand a say in their own government, as late as 1706 petitioning the monarchy to allow them to elect spokesmen each year by a plurality of voices. In a sign of his indifference to the colony, [[Louis XV]] agreed to their demand.<ref name=moogk175/> Male elders of the community settled internal disputes and spoke to the government on behalf of their neighbours, sometimes with the help of the priests.<ref name=moogk73>Moogk (2000), p. 73.</ref> Most of the immigrants to Acadia were French peasants whose oppression by the noble landholders had left them with a deep suspicion of those in authority. This suspicion was transplanted to those in authority in Acadia as well, be they French or English.<ref name=moogk4>Moogk (2000), p. 4.</ref> Acadians regularly protested the actions of local administrators and clergymen to higher authorities in Quebec and France. If their appeals failed, which they usually did, the Acadians would procrastinate or resort to passive resistance techniques, including subterfuge, to continue defying the authorities.<ref name=moogk7>Moogk (2000), p. 7.</ref> Administrators complained of constant in-fighting among the population, which filed many petty civil suits with colonial magistrates. Most of these were over boundary lines, as the Acadians were very quick to protect their new lands.<ref name=brass8>Brasseaux (1987), p. 8.</ref> ==Demographics== After a 1692 visit, [[Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac]], described the Acadian men as "'well-built, of good height, and they would be accepted without difficulty as soldiers in a guards' regiment. [They are] well-proportioned and their hair is usually blond. [They are] robust, and will endure great fatigue; [they] are fine subjects of the king, passionately loving the French of Europe'".<ref name=moogk174>Moogk (2000), p. 174.</ref> Most Acadians were illiterate, and many of the records, including notarial deeds, were destroyed or scattered during the Great Expulsion. For a time, Port Royal did have schools, but these were closed when the British excluded Roman Catholic religious orders from operating in Acadia.<ref name=moogk174/> While Acadia was under French rule, all settlers were required to be baptised in the Roman Catholic faith.<ref name=moogk62>Moogk (2000), p. 62.</ref> Despite their nominal faith, Acadians often worked on Sundays and religious holidays.<ref name=moogk174/> Before 1654, trading companies and patent holders concerned with fishing recruited men in France to come to Acadia to work at the commercial outposts.<ref name=moogk92/> The original Acadian population was a small number of [[indentured servant]]s and soldiers brought by the fur-trading companies. Gradually, fishermen began settling in the area as well, rather than return to France with the seasonal fishing fleet.<ref name=moogk7>Moogk (2000), p. 7.</ref> The majority of the recruiting took place at [[La Rochelle]]. Between 1653 and 1654, 104 men were recruited at La Rochelle. Of these, 31% were builders, 15% were soldiers and sailors, 8% were food preparers, 6.7% were farm workers, and an additional 6.7% worked in the clothing trades.<ref name=moogk92>Moogk (2000), p. 92.</ref> Fifty-five percent of Acadia's first families came from the Centre-Ouest region of [[France]], primarily from [[Poitou]], [[Aunis]], [[Angoumois]], and [[Saintonge]]. Over 85% of these (47% of the total), were former residents of the La Chausée area of Poitou.<ref name=brass8>Brasseaux (1987), p. 8.</ref> Many of the families who arrived in 1632 with Razilly shared some blood ties; those not related by blood shared cultural ties with the others.<ref name=brass8/> The number of original immigrants was very small, and only about 100 surnames existed within the Acadian community.<ref name=moogk7/> Some of the earliest settlers married women of the local [[Micmac]] tribe who had converted to [[Roman Catholicism]].<ref name=moogk7/> The French immigrants accepted and worked closely with the natives, whose black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin were similar to those of the Mediterranean peoples near France.<ref>Moogk (2000), p. 20.</ref> A Parisian lawyer, Marc Lescarbot, who spent several months in Acadia in 1606, described the Micmac as having "courage, fidelity, generosity, and humanity, and their hospitality is so innate and praiseworthy that they receive among them every man who is not an enemy. They are not simpletons. ... So that if we commonly call them Savages, the word is abusive and unmerited."<ref>Moogk (2000), p. 18.</ref> Most of the immigrants to Acadia were peasants in Europe, making them social equals in the [[New World]]. The colony had limited economic support or cultural contacts with France, leaving a "social vacuum" that allowed "individual talents and industry ... [to supplant] inherited social position as the measure of a man's worth."<ref name=brass3>Brasseaux (1987), p. 3.</ref> Acadians lived as social equals, with the elderly and priests considered slightly superior.<ref name=moogk175>Moogk (2000), p. 175.</ref> Unlike the French colonists in Canada and the early English colonies in [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]] and [[Jamestown]], Acadians maintained an extended kinship system,<ref name=brass3/> and the large extended families assisted in building homes and barns, as well as cultivating and harvesting crops.<ref name=brass11>Brasseaux (1987), p. 11.</ref> They also relied on interfamily cooperation to accomplish community goals, such as building dikes or reclaiming tidal marshes.<ref name=moogk270>Moogk (2000), p. 270.</ref> Marriages were generally not love matches but were arranged for economic or social reasons. Parental consent was required for anyone under 25 who wished to marry, and both the mother's and father's consent was recorded in the marriage deed.<ref name=moogk180>Moogk (2000), p. 180.</ref> Divorce was not permitted in New France, and annulments were almost impossible to get. Legal separation was offered as an option but was seldom used.<ref name=moogk229>Moogk (2000), p. 229.</ref> The Acadians were suspicious of outsiders and did not readily cooperate with census takers. The first reliable population figures for the area came with the census of 1671, which noted fewer than 450 people. By 1714, the Acadian population had expanded to 2,528&nbsp;individuals, mostly from natural increase rather than immigration.<ref name=moogk7/> Most Acadian women in the 18th century gave birth to living children an average of eleven times. Although these numbers are identical to those in Canada, 75% of Acadian children reached adulthood, many more than in other parts of New France. The isolation of the Acadian communities meant the people were not exposed to many of the imported epidemics, allowing the children to remain healthier.<ref>Moogk (2000), p. 219.</ref> In the 18th century, some Acadians migrated to nearby [[Île Saint-Jean]] (now Prince Edward Island) to take advantage of the fertile cropland. In 1732, the island had 347 settlers but with 25 years its population had expanded to 5000 Europeans.<ref>Moogk (2000), p. 6.</ref> ==Economy== Most Acadian households were self-sufficient<ref name=brass10>Brasseaux (1987), p. 10.</ref>, with families engaged in subsistence farming supplemented with meat caught through fishing and hunting.<ref>Brasseaux (1987), p. 9.</ref> In the early days of the colony, Acadia was an "economic backwater", with few trade goods and little money to attract merchants. Acadia was not near the sea lanes which brought ships to Quebec and Boston, and transportation within the peninsula was difficult.<ref name=brass10/> Farms tended to remain small plots of land worked by individual families rather than slave labor.<ref>Moogk (2000), p. 12.</ref> Farmers grew wheat, peas, cabbage, turnips, and apples, and raised [[maize]] as a secondary crop. Barley, oats, and potatoes were also planted as feed for the livestock, including cattle, pigs, and poultry. These animals provided a steady supply of meat to the Acadians, which they supplemented with fish.<ref name=moogk229>Moogk (2000), p. 229.</ref> After 1630, the Acadians began to build dykes and drain the sea marsh above Port Royal. The high salinity of the reclaimed coastal marshland meant that the land would need to sit for three years after it was drained before it could be cultivated.<ref name=brass11>Brasseaux (1987), p. 11.</ref> The land reclamation techniques that were used closely resembled the enclosures near La Rochelle that helped make solar salt.<ref name=moogk7/> As time progressed, the Acadian agriculture improved, and Acadians traded with the British colonies in [[New England]] to gain ironware, fine cloth, rum, and salt. During the French administration of Acadia, this trade was illegal, but it did not stop some English traders from establishing small stores in Port Royal.<ref name=moogk174>Moogk (2000), p. 174.</ref> Under English rule, the Acadians often smuggled their excess food to Boston merchants at Baie Verte and to the French at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island.<ref>Brasseaux (1987), p. 16.</ref> Many adult sons who did not inherit land from their parents settled on adjacent vacant lands to remain close to their families.<ref name=moogk178>Moogk (2000), p. 178.</ref> As the best land was taken, some moved further north of Port Royal, into the Upper [[Bay of Fundy]] settlements, including Mines, Pisiquid, and [[Beaubassin]]. Many of the pioneers into that area persuaded some of their relatives to accompany them, and most of the frontier settlements contained only five to ten interrelated family unites.<ref name=brass12>Brasseaux (1987), p. 12.</ref> ==Contemporary Acadia== :''See Also: [[Acadians]] [[Image:The Acadians.png|thumb|225px|Acadian communities in 2006]] [[Image:Flag of Acadia.svg|thumb|Since the colony of Acadia never possessed its own flag, in 1884 the surviving Acadians created this new flag a symbol of Acadian indentity.]] Today, Acadia has been used to refer to regions of [[Atlantic Canada]] with French roots, language, and culture, primarily in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine and Prince Edward Island.<ref name=beaujot/> In the abstract, Acadia refers to the existence of a French culture on Canada’s east coast. The French language has gradually returned to modern Acadia, and from 1951 through 1986 over 58% of the Acadian population spoke French as their maternal tongue.<ref name=beaujot>Beaujot (1998), p. 79.</ref> The [[national anthem|anthem]] of contemporary Acadia is ''[[Ave Maris Stella]]'', and it is represented by the [[Flag of Acadia|flag]] adopted at [[Miscouche]], [[Prince Edward Island]] in 1884. ==See also== * [[Acadian French]] * [[List of Acadians]] * [[List of Acadian governors]] * [[Cajuns]] == Notes == {{reflist}} ==References== *{{citation|title=Language and Politics in the United States and Canada: Myths and Realities|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|location=[[Mahwah, NJ]]|date=1998|isbn=0805828389|last=Beaujot|first=Roderic|contribution=Demographic Considerations in Canadian Language Policy|editor-last=Ricento|editor-first=Thomas|editor2-last=Burnaby|editor2-first=Barbara}} *{{Citation|last=Brasseaux|first=Carl A.|title=The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765–1803|publisher=[[Louisiana State University Press]]|location=[[Baton Rouge, LA]]|date=1987|isbn=0807112968}} *{{citation|last=Moogk|first=Peter|title=La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada—A Cultural History|publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]]|location=[[East Lansing, MI]]|date=2000|isbn=0870135287}} ==External links== * [http://www.cma2009.ca Congres Mondial Acadien 2009] * [http://www.acadian-home.org Acadian Ancestral Home by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino] – A repository for Acadian history & genealogy * [http://www.acadievacances.com/en/default.asp Acadian Tourism Commission] * [http://www.patrimoineacadien.com Acadian Heritage Portal] – A repository for Acadian history, genealogy and folklore * [http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca Visit l'Acadie of New Brunswick (Tourism New Brunswick.ca)] * [http://www.snacadie.org National Society of Acadia (French Only)] {{New France}} {{former French colonies}} {{Canadian colonies}} [[Category:Acadia|*]] [[Category:New Netherland]] [[ca:Acàdia]] [[cs:Akádie]] [[da:Acadia]] [[de:Akadien]] [[el:Ακαδία]] [[es:Acadia]] [[fr:Acadie]] [[gl:Acadia]] [[ko:아카디아]] [[it:Acadia (regione)]] [[lt:Akadija]] [[nl:Acadië]] [[ja:アカディア]] [[no:Acadia]] [[nn:Acadia]] [[pl:Akadia]] [[pt:Acádia (América)]] [[ru:Акадия]] [[sv:Akadien]] [[zh:阿卡迪亞 (加拿大)]]