A Brief History of the Franco-Americans/Acadians of the St. John Valley
by Lise Pelletier, Director Acadian Archives/Archives Acadiennes, UMFK
In 1524, an Italian explorer named Giovanni da Verrazano landed in Georgia and named the land between Florida and Newfoundland "Arkadia," after the mythical Greek Eden. In 1604, Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua (Sieur de Monts) established a permanent trading post on the island they named Ile Sainte-Croix (Holy Cross), which sits on international waters between New Brunswick and Maine. After a disastrous winter, the surviving members of the French colony moved to Port-Royal (Annapolis, Nova Scotia) on the Baie Française (Bay of Fundy). Between 1632, when the first families arrived in Port Royal, to 1755, the Acadian population grew to approximately 18,000.
In 1750, the French settlers in Acadie no longer saw themselves as French, but as Acadians. They used dyke systems to harness the rich nutrients of the ocean while letting the salt water flow out of the marsh lands. They had established trading partnerships with the Native population and sold their furs and agricultural products to the British colonies to the south and to Europe. They owned their own lands and had been settled in the area now known as Nova Scotia for more than a century. During that time, France and England were constantly at war, so the colony of Acadie/Acadia was governed alternately by which- ever country won the war. The Acadians were farmers; they were not interested in going to war for either Britain or France. They signed an "Oath of Neutrality" which stated that they were British subjects, and that they would not take up arms against the British, the French, or the Natives. They were also allowed the free practice of their Catholic religion.
As Acadia prospered in the early 1750s, New England Exterior of Roy House, Acadian Village, Van Buren, Maine. Photographer: NPS/Meg Scheid colonies were facing severe economic hardships. "The region was stricken by drought, depression, unemployment, and high taxes, as well as by continuing frontier violence with the native tribes allied to the French." It is at this time that the idea to rid Acadia of the French Catholics and to replace them with loyal British subjects became a plan. Massachusetts' governor, William Shirley, and Acadia's governor, Charles Lawrence, are the artisans of Le Grand Dérangement (The Great Upheaval).
In July 1755, Acadians, their weapons confiscated, were lured to the local church and held hostage against the surrender of their families. This edict was read to them: "That your land and tenements, cattle of all kinds and livestock of all sorts are forfeited to the Crown with all other your effects savings your money and household goods, and you yourselves to be removed from this Province." The Acadians were led to believe they were to join the French Canadians in Nouvelle-France (Quebec). However, this was never the intention of the British. The family members gathered on the shores were separated and crowded unto the ten or twelve ships without knowing where they or the others of their family were going. Once aboard, they witnessed the destruction of their homes, their barns, their church, their documents. "Nothing must be left that might encourage any escapee to return. All will be set afire." The forcible removal of the Acadians went on for eight years. Between 1755 and 1763, 75%, or roughly 14,000, Acadians were deported to British colonies: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and to England and France.
The Embarkation, by Emile Bayard; ©New York Public Library
The 25% who were not deported escaped to the north, along the St John River, and to Québec. In 1764, exiled Acadians were allowed to come back to Nova Scotia. Finding their lands occupied, they settled in scattered groups in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island, and New Brunswick. After the War of Independence, thousands of Loyalist soldiers and their families flocked to the closest British colonies and uprooted the newly resettled Acadians once again. Some of these, along with French Canadians, moved to the upper Saint John River area in 1785 and settled the Madawaska Territory, on both sides of the river.