The majority of Acadians were farmers, hardly a threat to anyone, the threat was in the mind of the governing body. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cajun" <cajun@thecajuns.com> To: <ACADIAN-CAJUN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 12:12 PM Subject: [ACADIAN-CAJUN] The Acadian Exile in Historical Perspective > The Acadian Explusion was a cruel and unnecessary event but we should > consider the events that were occuring at that time. > > The Acadians had been British Subjects since 1713 but insisted upon > their status as "French Neutrals." When the Seven Years War [known as > the French and Indian War in North America]broke out, the English were > faced with nearly 15,000 armed Acadians whose loyalty was at question. > When Fort Beausejour was captured, the British found Acadians. They said > that the French had forced them to defend the fort. From a British > perspective, these men could be "forced" to attack them as the war > continued. France and England were fighting for supremacy in North > America and history documents that the French were trying to enlist the > Acadians. > > We should also remember that countries claimed land by right of > discovery and conquest! England based its claim to Nova Scotia on a > discovery by Cabot [historians have shown that Cabot was no where near > Nova Scotia] and then won it by conquest in 1713. France made no serious > attempt no reclaim Acadia between 1713-1755 because it had its hands > full elsewhere. > > France GAVE all of Colonial Louisiana to Spain in 1762 to prevent it > from going to the English. The French Subjects in Louisiana had no say > over their fate and weren't even informed until 1766! The First Spanish > Governor was forcefully removed in 1768 with help from some Acadians. > France chose not to support an appeal for the return of Louisiana to > France; and the Spanish sent O'Reilly who excuted some of the leaders of > the Rebellion [the 1st Rebellion in North America]. > > In 1802, Napoleon forced Spain to retrocede Louisiana to France in a > secret treaty! Napoleon planned to use Louisiana to supply Haiti but he > started a war with England and had to sell all of Louisiana for $12M. In > the space of a few months, Louisiana went from Spain to France to the US > - all without any input from the people! > > We need to remember that what is at issue in the Proclamation is the > removal of the status of "traitors" that was placed upon the Acadians. > The Proclamation will accept responsibility for the exile of British > Subjects who had a legal status of "French Neutrals" and weren't > traitors. > > The Acadian Explusion was not one of England's finest moments but, with > all due respect, it cannot be compared to what happened to the Jewish > People in World War II. > > Stanley LeBlanc > http://www.thecajuns.com > > > > ==== ACADIAN-CAJUN Mailing List ==== > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.ethnic.acadian-cajun > This is a link to the Acadian-Cajun Message Board at RootsWeb. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >