THE FRENCH ACADIANS OF THE MARITIMES

Welcome to my site on the French Acadians of the Maritimes for unit 12 Geography.

Bremendra Sivarajah

TA: Ms.Goncalves

Evaluator: Mr.Emmer

                  The name Acadia is originally applied to the Colonies of New France, which are South-eastern Quebec, Eastern Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Some say the name came from the Greek "Arcadia" meaning "rural contentment." It was thought to be named by Verazanno who sailed near the Maritimes in 1524. The name "Acadian" was the name given to the early French settlers who migrated from France to Acadia.

               One of the push factors are that These early settlers came to Acadia because in 1604 there was a war going on in Europe between France and Great Britain. Many were tired of fighting the war and anxious to see the new world, and they were also forced by the British to relocate. Sieur de Monts & Samuel de Champlain both set sail in April and arrived in the new world in August. They landed on St.Croix Island in the Bay of Fundy. They cut sown the trees to build houses. They only had a limited amount of food that they had brought, and most of them died without food.

                  The colonization of Acadia starts with the founding of Port Royal in 1605. Many new French settlers arrived there, they worked hard, tilling the soil and erecting dikes which prevented high tides from soaking and ruining the main land. The dikes also led run-off from the fields back to the ocean. This special system was refined over long periods of time and called "Aboiteaux". They built houses, planted gardens, and upgraded the conditions of the Habitation. Within a matter of years, the population there grew significantly. With patience and devoted time, Port Royal became a prosperous agricultural district. Throughout the 1600s Acadia grew in communities and population, it passed back and forth between England and France several times. During one of its English periods in the 1620s, James I, a Scottish King, granted the land to a poet and fellow Scot, William Alexander, who named it New Scotland or Nova Scotia.

Below is the map of the French Acadians.