Longfellow in his "Evangeline" has immortalized the sufferings of the French peasantry of Acadie or Acadia. This was the name given by the French settlers to Nova Scotia on its first settlement in 1604. The English claimed the colony by right of discovery - as having been discovered by the Cabots; the exclusive possession of the fisheries proved a further bone of contention. In 1667 it was ceded to France, but the English colonists never recognized the cession, and harassed the French settlers. In 1713 France gave up all claim to the colony: the Acadians mostly remained though they had liberty to leave within two years, and were exempted from bearing arms against their brethren. A French settlement was formed on Cape Breton, and received the name of Louisbourg, whilst as a result of French intrigues with the Indians, the latter harassed the English. The majority of the Acadians would not take the oath of allegiance nor would they refrain from abetting underhand hostilities against the English. "The French government" says Parkman, "began by making the Acadians its tools, and ended by making them its victims." Accordingly, in 1755 it was determined at a consultation of the governor and his council to remove them; and to the number of about 18,000, they were dispossessed of their property and dispersed among the other British provinces.

This wholesale expatriation, often severely condemned, was not resorted to until every milder resource had been tried. A simple, yet very ignorant peasantry, living apart from the rest of the world, they were ruled by the priest, who taught them to stand fast for the church and King Louis, and to resist heresy and King George.