The Expulsion of the Acadians

Professor Amy Sturgis explains that the Acadians were peaceful French colonists who had prospered in Nova Scotia.

Amy Sturgis

Amy Sturgis is a professor of interdisciplinary-​studies at Lenoir-​Rhyne University and the Mythgard Institute specializing in the fields of Science Fiction/​Fantasy and Native American Studies. Sturgis is the author of four books related to U.S. presidential and Native American history, including The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal and Presidents from Washington through Monroe.

The sad history of state-​sponsored ethnic cleansing in North America begins with the story of the British expulsion of the Acadians in 1755. Professor Amy Sturgis explains that the Acadians were peaceful French colonists who had prospered in Nova Scotia. The British forcibly removed the Acadians from their homes and scattered them across North America. The expulsion effectively ended the Acadian way of life forever. How might U.S. history have been different if this first ethnic cleansing had never occurred? How might America be different today if the Acadians’ property and rights had been respected? Might the Acadian way of life have influenced the United States for the better?

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