The Acadians Before 1755

By Régis Brun

This overview of Acadian history in the 17th and 18th centuries emphasizes the dynamic nature of that rural society, within a geographical approach to settlement in five regions before 1755. A number of unpublished documents are also discussed

Contents include:

• Chapter 1 PORT-ROYAL – Dauphin River
  Acadian settlement at Port-Royal and on the Dauphin River
  Patrimonial homesteads on the Dauphin River
  Family hamlets
  The Deportation of the Acadians
• Chapter 2 THE MINAS BASIN – Grand-Pré, Pigiguit and Rivière-des-Habitants
  History of Les Mines
  The settlement of the Minas Basin
  The right to property: a contentious people
  Diversity of industries
  Trading activities at Les Mines
  The political initiation of Acadians
  The Expulsion of the Acadians
  Beyond 1755
• Chapter 3 COBEGUIT
  The foundation of Cobeguit
  Mathieu Martin, the Seigneur of Cobeguit
  The founding families of Cobeguit
  The villages in the parish of Cobeguit
  An Acadian farm
  Cobeguit on the transit route
  The Acadians and the military campaigns
  The inhabitants of Cobeguit emigrate to Île Saint-Jean and Île Royale
  The refugees
  1755 – The expatriation
  The Acadians in Cobeguit after 1760
• Chapter 4 CHIPOUDIE
  The settlement of Chipoudie
  The Parish of Notre-Dame de la Visitation
  The families in 1755
  Economic growth in Chipoudie
  Military developments in Chipoudie
  Chipoudie torched and razed
  The refugees
• Chapter 5 ÎLE ROYALE: LOUISBOURG AND PORT-TOULOUSE
  The Acadians on Île Royale
  Louisbourg: The "Acadian Quarter" in Block 2
  Block 2 – Properties and residents, 1714-1758
  Port-Toulouse
  Migrations in the 1750s
  The economic growth of shipping: coastal trading
  Sea ports
  Mills and small shipyards
  Selling surplus farm products
  All the Saints in Heaven
  Lists of ships by name, and their owners, 1710-1760
• CONCLUSION
• APPENDIX

What was Acadie before 1755?

Régis Brun's approach to Acadian settlement in Acadia's five regions is geographical, with particular attention being paid to the socioeconomic conditions of the people in these areas. He describes the dynamics of the Acadian economy, manifested in the land-based communities and in the coastal trading carried out by businessmen and sea captains in 18th-century Acadie. This study does not deal with the origins, the arrival in the New World or the genealogy of the men and women who first settled the land they made their own, on the northwestern shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Brun explores the methods used by the Acadians to settle the land, to establish their farms, to cultivate the meadows and to create their hamlets and villages. The rivalries that arose among these people are also discussed, since Acadians are far from being the bucolic people frozen in time and made legendary by Longfellow, in his poem on the land of Evangeline.

A series of deportations, the "Grand Dérangement", brought ethnic cleansing to Acadie, followed by an orgy of destruction. This book chronicles these events and the tragic destiny of the deportees and refugees. The work also brings various unpublished documents to the attention of interested readers, with some excerpts provided within

Details:
127 pages
8.5 x 11"
Softcover - Coilbound
First edition was published by Author, Moncton, 2005
This edition published by Global Heritage Press, Milton 2012
ISBN 978-1-926797-55-7 (pbk)