Description

Without a doubt, the Deportation constitutes the piv-otal point in the history of the Acadians. It is impossibleto grasp the full scope of this human tragedy, whichdrastically changed the course, not only of this people, butof the whole Maritime region. In terms of numbers, weknow that between 1755 and 1763, approximately 10,000Acadians were dispossessed of their lands in the territorythat now comprises Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, andPrince Edward Island, and were deported by the British tothe American Thirteen Colonies, Britain, and France. Agreat many of the victims perished during the ordeal. Thetoll was particularly heavy among those deported from lieSaint Jean in 1758: two-thirds appear to have succumbedduring the crossing of the Atlantic or in the months followingtheir arrival in France. The Acadians call this sad periodof their history "le Grand Derangement" (the GreatUpheaval). The phrase refers not only to the actualDeportation, but also to the Acadians' lengthy wanderingsin search of a new homeland, a search that lasted, in manyinstances, until the early 1800s.