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Acadians Facts & Worksheets

The Acadians were the descendants of Acadia’s French-speaking settlers in the 17th – 18th century. Acadia is now the Canadian Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of Eastern Quebec and Southern Maine.

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The Acadians were the descendants of Acadia’s French-speaking settlers in the 17th – 18th century. Acadia is now the Canadian Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of Eastern Quebec and Southern Maine. After their deportation by a British governor, some of them ended up in Louisiana and gradually developed what we now call the Cajun culture.

See the fact file below for more information on the Acadians or alternatively, you can download our 26-page Acadians worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ORIGIN OF THE NAME ACADIA

  • In 1524 – 1525, Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer who served under the King of France, explored the Atlantic Coast in North America and named the region Archadia, or Arcadia. It is located near present-day Delaware.
  • In 1566, Bolognino Zaltieri, a cartographer, gave the name Larcadia to an area far to the northeast of present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
  • The name Acadie, which is the French name for Acadia, was also said to come from the word “Quoddy”, a term used by the natives to designate a fertile area.
  • Some historians claimed that it came from the Mi’kmaq word Algatig, which means camp.

DISCOVERING ACADIA

  • Before it was known as Acadia, the region was already known for the richness of cod that made European traders and fishermen frequent its shore.
  • It was also inhabited by Native American tribes, predominantly the Mi’kmaq.
  • Merchants and explorers, such as cartographer Samuel de Champlain and Lieutenant General Pierre Dugua (known as Sieur de Monts), sailed to Acadia and settled in Ile Ste-Croix in the summer and early fall of 1604. They had built a chapel, houses, and stores. However, in the winter of 1604, the lack of fruits and vegetables in the area led to a scurvy outbreak.
  • Out of the 79 people who sailed from France, 65 fell ill, and 35 died of scurvy. The remaining men decided to move to Port-Royal, where they established a permanent settlement and named it New France.
  • In 1607, the French monarchy removed De Mont’s charter, which led to the departure of all colonists except for a caretaker. Their four years of colonization were enough to obtain geographical knowledge of the region and show existing land in the area that could be cultivated.
  • Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just, a former lieutenant governor, came back in 1610. He found that the indigenous people in the area kept a careful watch of their possessions, so the settlement looked the same as how they had left it.

THE PERMANENT SETTLERS

  • From 1632 to 1653, groups of settlers arrived in Acadia. Their survival in the new settlement relied on their relationship with the two prominent Aboriginal people of the region, the Mi’kmaq and the Maliseet.
  • There were recorded marriages between the settlers and the Indigenous women in both Roman Catholic and Mi’kmaq rites.
  • The Acadians lived a relatively quiet life with ravages of war from time to time, as they occupied the British and French Empire’s borderland region.
  • Because of these experiences, they learned to distrust imperial authorities and refused to cooperate with census takers.

THE GREAT DEPORTATION

  • One of the most crucial parts of Acadian history happened in 1755-1762. Acadia’s ownership had been tossed around for years between France and England. It had changed its name from Acadia to Nova Scotia according to the war and treaties.
  • In 1713, England finally had Acadia as their colony. The French natives had no choice but to be a British subject or leave.
  • Having no means, they were forced to concede and take an unconditional oath to the British crown.
  • The official English colonization of Nova Scotia began with the founding of Halifax in 1749. This time, the British were more impatient with the French Catholic. The former was also more cautious of any hint of rebellion after their defeat against the French Army.
  • In 1755, Governor Charles Lawrence executed the plans for deportation. It was the beginning of a hide-and-seek between Acadians and the British Army that lasted for more than eight years.
  • Approximately 25,000 – 32,000 Acadians who lived in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were about to be deported. In September of that year, Colonel John Winslow summoned the Acadian males aged ten and up to gather in the Grand-Pre Church and read the governor’s order.
  • Some Acadians managed to flee towards Quebec or hide in the forest. Some were imprisoned for trying to escape.
  • Almost ten thousand Acadians boarded the ship to the English colonies along the eastern seaboard as far as Georgia, while some found their way to Louisiana.
  • A few ships sank on the high seas with exiles onboard. 850 Acadians died during the deportation.
  • The British government destroyed the Acadians’ properties and rounded up their livestock to ensure that the Acadians had nothing to return to. In 1770, Nova Scotia Governor Michael Francklin encouraged the Acadians to return to their homeland. He promised they could continue their Catholic worship, receive land grants, and never be expelled again.
  • Life in Acadia became more difficult for the returning Acadians, as New England Planters and later the Black Loyalists took over their dyke lands. They were forced to shift into fishing as the source of their livelihood.

ACADIAN WAY OF LIVING

  • Upon arriving in Acadia, the French settlers knew that they had to build dikes to water their farmland.
  • They invented a system of drainage ditches combined with an innovative one-way watergate called Aboiteau.
  • It was a hinged valve that allowed freshwater to run off the marshes at low tide and prevented the saltwater from flowing onto the farmland during high tide.
  • The system allowed the Acadian community to cooperate as it needed utmost vigilance from them to keep it working correctly. There could be soil erosion or severe damage to their farms if repairs were not immediately done.
  • This system was so complicated that some Acadian prisoners were released from prison after their deportation to keep the dikes working.
  • Acadians remained self-sufficient by farming in their marshlands. With the help of their dikes, they yielded abundant crops of wheat, oat, barley, rye, peas, corn, flax, and hemp.
  • They also had gardens in which they grew beets, carrots, parsnips, onions, herbs, salad greens, cabbages, and turnips.
  • The Acadians kept cattle, sheep, and pigs. They let their pigs roam around the forest and get fed with kitchen scraps. Acadians kept their cow for milk and referred to it as a working animal rather than a meal.
  • Acadians’ diets mostly relied on pork and vegetables, particularly cabbage and turnips. They also brewed their own spruce and fir beer.
  • Family was the foundation of the Acadian society. Every member of the family must adhere to their everyday tasks. The father worked in the farmland, fishing, or hunting, while the mother tended the household chores with their children’s help.
  • Establishing a family in an Acadian society could start when a boy turned 16 and the girl was 14. It also signified that the children were ready for adulthood. It was customary for a boy to ask a girl in the form of a proposal after a few months of getting to know each other.
  • However, the marriage proposal would only occur if the girl did not show any objection early on, and more importantly, both families agreed to the match. Often, the marriage was a result of family alliances.
  • Two of the most dominating traits of the Acadians was their faith and their language. Despite deportation, their devotion to their Catholic culture and their French origins remained with them.
  • Their national symbols were fashioned around their submission to the papacy and Virgin Mary. They were also often called the French-speaking community.
  • Acadians today live in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, with some in parts of Maine and Quebec. There are also Acadians who settled in Louisiana after their deportation, and they founded a “Cajun” culture.

Acadians Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Acadians across 26 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Acadians worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Acadians which were the descendants of Acadia’s French-speaking settlers in the 17th – 18th century. Acadia is now the Canadian Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of Eastern Quebec and Southern Maine. After their deportation by a British governor, some of them ended up in Louisiana and gradually developed what we now call the Cajun culture.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Acadians Facts
  • In Four Words
  • The Great Deportation
  • Prominent Figures
  • Origin of the Name
  • The Acadian Way of Life
  • The First Settlers
  • Acadian History
  • Fact or Bluff
  • Life of an Acadian
  • Remembering the Expulsion

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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