:—— 1755 wk' 1753 .——: 
     
    
   
   
    
     RAGE 3.0 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     lëA;  saavanance 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Daniel N. Paul 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
      è ïr amont 
     
     and  
     
    
   
   
    
     ææqc Go 
     
     W-m 
     
    
   
   
    
     M 
     
    
   
   
    
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     In early 1755 the Acadian Deputies were summoned to 
     
     Halifax by Governor Lawrence and ordered to swear an oath 
     
     of allegiance to the British Crown. This they refused to do. 
     
     contending. as they had with Cornwallis in 1749. that if they 
     
     did so the French would set the Indians against them and 
     
     they would be massacred. The English lost no time in 
     
     responding. Colonel Robert Monckton rounded up the 
     
     Acadians in Chignecto. while Colonel John Winslow or- 
     
     dered those at Minas to assemble at Grand Pré. They were 
     
     loaded into the holds of ships and scattered to the four 
     
     corners of the world. Families were separated, never t0 see 
     
     one another again. and untold numbers died in transport. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Mi'kmaq faithfully stuck by their Acadian allies 
     
     to the bitter end. Some of the Acadians tried to escape and 
     
     were aided and protected by the Mi’kmaq t0 the best of their 
     
     ability. The Mi'kmaq also joined forces with them t0 drive 
     
     back the British. as was reported by the French Governor: 
     
    
   
   
    
     "The British burned the Village. including the Church 
     
     at Chipoudy and was responded to thus. Mr. Boishebert, at 
     
     the head of 125 Indians and Acadians. overtook them at the 
     
     River Pelkoudiak. attacked and fought them for three hours. 
     
     and drove them vigorously back t0 their vessels. The English 
     
     had 42 killed and 45 wounded. Mr. Gorham, a very active 
     
     English Officer, was among the number of the wounded. 
     
     We Iost l lndian. and had three others wounded.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     Many Acadians went into hiding among the Mi'kmaq 
     
     and remained with them until the British and French ended 
     
     their hostilities in 1763. A group of several hundred were 
     
     hidden by the Mi'kmaq in the area known today as Kejimkujik 
     
     National Park. The Expulsion order was almost universal. 
     
     Even individuals who had sworn allegiance to the British 
     
     Crown and been promised the right to live peacefully in their 
     
     ancestral homes were included. Professor Jeffery Plank. 
     
     University ofCincinnati, states: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Everyone involved understood the conflict I0 be a race 
     
     won... During the I750s the politics of Nova Scotia centcred 
     
     on issues of national identin A! various limes during the 
     
     decade. the British engaged in combat with several diffèrent 
     
     peoples who inhabired, or passed through. Nova Scotia: 
     
     The Micmac, the French... and the Acadians... The British 
     
     govemors of Nova Scotia generally believed that thcy were 
     
     surrounded b_v enemies, that the Acadians, the Micnzac and 
     
     the French would soon find a way m cooperate and over- 
     
     rhrow British rule. One of the principle (sic) aimx of Brin‘xh 
     
     policy, therefore, was to keep these peoplc separatcd. ro 
     
     isolate rhe Micmac, the Acadianx. and the Frcnch. 72) 
     
    
   
   
    
     fifilkhmiis agi;  
     
    
   
   
    
     aaoeiîdje oË me   elêiîaalai 
     
    
   
   
    
     v 
     
    
   
   
    
     9&4 W , "4., 
     
    
   
   
    
     achieve this goal of segregation, the colonial aurhorities 
     
     adopted rwo draconian policies. In 1749 the governor began 
     
     offerng bounties for the scalps of Micmac men. women 
     
     and children. The aim of this program was t0 eliminate the 
     
     Micmac population on the peninsula of Nova Scotia, bv 
     
     dearh or forced emigration. In I755 the British adopted a 
     
     dtflerent but related strategy: it deported the Acadians. and 
     
     relocated [hem in safer colonies [o Ihe west. Viewed in the 
     
     abstract. these two programs. Io pay for the deaths of the 
     
     Micmac and t0 relocate and absorb the Acadians, represented 
     
     very simple thinking. The colonial authorities who endorsed 
     
     these programs placed the inhabitants of Nova Scotia into 
     
     nm categories, Europeans and savages, and treated them 
     
     accordingly. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In retrospect. I don't believe that the Mi'kmaq and Aca- 
     
     dians could have ever escaped their fate. The paranoia and 
     
     racism harboured by the British would never have permitted 
     
     it. Today, the Acadians have in hand a half-hearted apology 
     
     from the Crown for the horrors committed against their 
     
     ancestors. However. the Crown stubbornly refuses to apo- 
     
     logize for the horrors committed against the Mi'kmaq by 
     
     Governors Edward Cornwallis and Charles Lawrence. 
     
     Cornwallis, as the record witnesses, attempted Genocide, 
     
     yet he is still wider honoured. A blot on this society that 
     
     no decent human being can ever defend. (1M 
     
    
   
   
    
     ns.s 3m atico. ca 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     We are upon a great and noble Scheme 
     
     of sending the neutral French 
     
     out of this Province. 
     
     who have always been secret Enemies, 
     
     and have encouraged our Savages 
     
     t0 cut out throats. 
     
     If we effect their Expulsion. 
     
     it will be one of the greatest Things 
     
     that ever the English did in America; 
     
     for by all accounts. 
     
     that Part ofthe Country they possess 
     
     is as good Land as any in the “lorld : 
     
     in case therefore we could get 
     
     some good English Farmers 
     
     in their Room. 
     
     this Province would abound 
     
     wîth all kinds of Provisions. 
     
    
   
   
    
     — news dispatchfi‘om Nom Scotia. 
     
    
   
   
    
     printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 
     
     Sept. 4th. 1755