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

All of this heat regarding the tragedy which befell our ancestors is surely strong commentary......the passions linger 250 years after the fact.....(the emotions of that time are unthinkable).....but no matter what attitude we choose to take regarding the current developments vis a vis the queen of England, WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN what they went through.....and that is most important......I welcome the discourse, and choose not to view it as arguing.....we owe that much to those who lived through the ordeal and dispite the greatest of odds, prevailed so that we here might honor their memory by the free _expression of our sentiments....honest sons and daugthers of Acadia...... Bernadette D. Meunier French Canadian Genealogical Society of Connecticut Tolland, CT. www.fcgsc.org Cajun <cajun@thecajuns.com> wrote: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