Life in Acadia. Dike: a barrier built to control the flow of water

Transcription

1 Life in Acadia Most Acadians were French-speaking Roman Catholics who came from the same region of France. In Acadia, they developed a unique culture, based on their language and their style of farming. They came to see themselves as distinct from the other French colonists who inhabited the St. Lawrence colony. Dike: a barrier built to control the flow of water In Acadia, farming, hunting, and fishing were important. Most of the entire settlement was located along the ocean coastline, so farmers built dikes to help cope with the high tides of the Bay of Fundy. Then, they used the drained marshes as additional farmland. In general, the Acadians had a good standard of living. By the 1750s their numbers had grown to about people. The Acadians were on friendly terms with their Mi'kmaq neighbours. The Mi'kmaq shared the art of hunting with them and taught them how to use herbs and other plants to make medicines. In many cases, the colonists intermarried with the Mi'kmaq. After years of conflict, the British finally took control of Acadia in 1713, but the Mi'kmaq remained allied with their French neighbours.

2 FIGURE 1.49 The Acadians developed a unique way of farming the coastal marshlands that were flooded by :l) the high tides, building dikes of earth and logs to protect the land. Special gates allowed the farmers to control the flow of water. This painting shows Acadians at work in fields protected by the dykes. How do you think Acadian farming differed from farms on a St. Lawrence seigneury? 1 i Fortress at Louisbourg When the British took control of Acadia, they allowed the French to keep control of lie Royale (what today is known as Cape Breton.) There, the French built a huge stone fortress called Louisbourg. It was built on a harbour as a naval base to protect the French fishing fleet on the Grand Banks and to guard the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. The river was the lifeline from New France to France and had to be kept open at all costs. By the 1740s, Louisbourg was the centre of a cod fishing industry. Large quantities of fish were dried and salted there for shipment to France. As well, it was a busy port on the North Atlantic trade routes. Acadian farmers sold much of their produce to the inhabitants of the fortress. ' l

3 New France Trade Relations Although the Acadians were mostly self-sufficient, there were many things they could not make or grow themselves, so they established trading links with New England and other French settlements. Molasses, cooking pots, axes, gunpowder, and fabrics came via New England. Through Louisbourg, the colonists obtained cottons, thread, lace, firearms, and religious items from France. A few small fishing villages were located on the outskirts of the main settlements. Dried fish were regularly shipped to France. Because there were few roads to link the settlements with each other, canoes and small boats provided most of the transportation. In winter, people used sleds and snowshoes. The French: Forging the Foundations of Canada Colonists in New France had a much different life than they would have had if they had stayed in France. Accordingly, it's not surprising that they developed unique ways of life that were distinct from those in their home country. They had more food and better houses than the people in France. In addition to being pioneers in the fur trade, they were explorers of the interior as far west as the Plains and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Through hard work and perseverance, the citizens of New France laid the foundations of Canada.

4 UNIT 1 As you read through the next section, think about what you already know about the causes and effects of wars and why nations usually go to war with each other. Background to War Between 1690 and 1763, France and Britain were almost always at war with each other. The final phase of this conflict is known as the Seven Years War, which began in It was close to being a world war. Fighting occurred in India, the Caribbean, Africa, as well as in North America. This war had a crucial impact on the country we live in today. Strengths and Weaknesses As war approached in the 1750s, each side in the conflict had certain strengths and weaknesses. The following chart describes the situation in the two colonies. New France British Colonies Population Territory Military strength Aboriginal support Supply lines a vast territory, stretching from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, that was hard to defend the most powerful army in Europe, combined with strong fortresses at Louisbourg and Quebec; soldiers in New France who were experienced in wilderness fighting many First Nations allies depended on France for supplies; in times of war the enemy could block the colony s single supply line the St. Lawrence River compact settlements along the Atlantic seaboard and in Hudson Bay a powerful navy, but the army s soldiers were not used to wilderness warfare the Haudenosaunee were Britain s only First Nations ally colonies were rich and prosperous and able to provide their own supplies A

5 Which factors would you consider to be French strengths? French weaknesses? British strengths? British weaknesses? Which side in the conflict do you think was in the stronger position? Why do you think so? North American Trouble Spots France and Britain were in conflict at different locations in North America. Hudson Bay British traders who were organized as the Hudson's Bay Company built trading posts on the shores of Hudson Bay. They hoped to tap the rich source of furs in the Northwest. The Dene and the Cree were important trading partners for the company. The Cree occupied territory southwest of Hudson Bay, while the Dene lived to the northwest. The French responded to the threat of British traders at Hudson Bay. They built a series of forts along the chain of the Great Lakes, starting at the east end and moving westward. By 1688, they had reached Rainy Lake, near the northwest end of Lake Superior. They hoped to meet the First Nations trappers before they could reach the British posts with their furs. t ) «! I! t j * I I i FIGURE 1.52 Henry Kelsey was the first European to see the vast herds of buffalo that once roamed the Plains. This romanticized scene, imagined by the artist Rex Woods in 1967, shows Kelsey taking part in a hunt with the Assiniboine [uh-sih-nih-boyn] Nation in August What impact did expeditions like Kelsey s have on the fur trade?

6 UNIT 1 The British decided they would have to travel away from Hudson Bay themselves to compete with the French. A young trader named Henry Kelsey led one of these trading expeditions. In 1690 he went with a group of Cree guides to meet with other First Nations peoples and convince them to become trading partners with the British. Kelsey travelled on foot and by canoe out of the forest and into the prairie grassland. He remained on the prairies for two years, travelling as far west as present-day Saskatchewan. Not to be outdone, the French sent out Pierre La Verendrye and his sons on expeditions onto the Plains. The La Verendryes built posts on Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan River during the 1730s and 1740s. They were able to close off much of the flow of furs to the Hudson Bay posts and collect many of the furs for themselves. FIGURE 1.53 Compare the two routes. What advantages did the Hudson Bay route have over the route through Montreal?

7 Acadia A second trouble spot was Acadia or, as the British called it, Nova Scotia. The Acadians were the descendants of the French colonists who first farmed the shores of the Bay of Fundy in the f600s. By f710, most of Acadia was firmly in British hands. The French held onto Cape Breton and its fortress at Louisbourg, as well as lie Saint-Jean (which was then the name for Prince Edward Island.) At first the British allowed the Acadian settlers to live their lives in peace. The Acadians were French-speaking Catholics who had created their own way of life based on fishing and their unique method of farming the low-lying dykelands. As war loomed between the French and British, the Acadians were caught in the middle. Trouble in Acadia As Britain and France moved toward war, the Acadian settlers faced a choice they did not want to make. In 1755, Charles Lawrence, the British governor of Nova Scotia, told the Acadians that they would have to swear an oath of loyalty to the British king. Lawrence worried that in time of war, the French-speaking Acadians would support France. FIGURE 1.54 This painting by Lewis Parker recreates the scene of British soldiers forcing Acadians from their homes onto waiting ships. What do you think of Governor Lawrence's decision to expel the Acadians? What other choice might he have made?!' Still mm* i

8 Ilf l«l As you read about the deporta tion of the Acadians, think of some similar examples from current events. What other people have been forced from their homeland? For links on life in Acadia and the Great Deportation Lawrence was convinced that British settlers in Nova Scotia would not be safe living among the Acadians. After all, the Acadians outnumbered the British and had trade and family ties with the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet. When British troops captured Fort Beausejour from the French, they found 300 armed Acadians defending the fort. The governor thought this was proof that all Acadians were disloyal. The Acadian settlers wanted to remain neutral in any conflict, choosing neither one side nor the other. They promised that they would not take up arms against the British, but they refused to take the oath of loyalty. Think of the position in which the Acadians found themselves. They had no way of knowing how a war might turn out. What if they chose to support the losing side? How would the victors treat them when the war was over? The Acadians hoped to be able to live at peace with both sides. The Great Deportation Governor Lawrence decided he had to act. He announced that because the Acadians refused to swear loyalty, they would be removed from Nova Scotia, by force if necessary. British soldiers moved into Acadian villages. Acadian men, women, and children were herded onto British ships, taking only what they could carry with them. Many families were separated. When the Acadians looked back, they saw their houses and barns in flames. Ships carrying the Acadians made their way to the British colonies. Some passengers died when their ships sank on the high seas. Those who survived found themselves among strangers who did not speak their language. They often found themselves living in misery and poverty. A few Acadians fled into the woods and made their way to Cape Breton and Louisbourg. Some went south to Louisiana, where their descendants are known today as "Cajuns." Some ended up in France or Quebec. Others stayed in the English colonies and started a new life. In all, about Acadians were driven from their homes. This event has become known as the Great Deportation, or in French, Le Grand Derangement.

9 The Acadians: A Lasting Identity When war between France and Britain ended, the Acadians were allowed to return to Nova Scotia. They found that English-speaking strangers had taken their farms. Since the British would not allow them to form large settlements, they gradually settled in remote coastal regions, as far away from their enemies as possible. Some settled in the west of Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton. Others preferred to locate in what would become New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The British attempt to assimilate or absorb the Acadians was a tragic failure. Despite great suffering, the French-speaking Acadians never gave up their cultural identity. Today, about Frenchspeaking Acadians live in Atlantic Canada. In New Brunswick, about one-third of the people speak French as their first language. New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that is officially bilingual. In 2004, Nova Scotia hosted the World Acadian Congress. It ' ji marked the four hundredth anniversary of the first French settlement < p in North America at Saint Croix Island. More than Acadians *'< attended, from as far away as Spain, Louisiana, and Flong Kong. The j >i Governor General of Canada at the time, Adrienne Clarkson, offered apologies for the expulsion of the Acadians on behalf of the British. < * 1 i FIGURE 1.55 The Acadian flag, shown here at an * * Acadian festival, is similar to the French flag. It shows that Acadians 1 remember their roots in France. Acadians also have their own anthem. How does displaying items such as flags or singing an anthem help to preserve people s cultural identities?