Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

tion of the New Brunswick area. Naively, the Acadians took at face value
the English claim that their hostility stemmed from worry over the Acadians
as potentially subversive allies of the French. With the French "threat"
greatly reduced, the poor Acadians actually believed that the English would
ease their oppression. Accordingly, they requested Lawrence that they
once again be allowed use of their canoes for fishing and that they
again be allowed to bear arms for hunting and general self-defense. Lawrence
denounced the petition as impertinent and insolent, and ordered once
again an unconditional loyalty oath for all Acadians. In fact, he ordered
the deputies who had presented the petition to take the full oath on the
spot; they, of course, insisted on the old conditions. Not only did Lawrence
and his Council insist on the immediate oath, but they also informed
the deputies that once anyone refused to take the oath, he would not be
allowed another chance and would be summarily expelled from Nova Scotia!
When the frightened deputies then offered to take the oath, they were
informed that this act would now be coerced and therefore not sincere;
hence they could not have even this chance! Incredibly, the deputies were
then promptly arrested and branded "popish recusants" and subjects of
France.
It was now clear that for the British on Nova Scotia, the reduction of
the French power in the area, combined with the continued state of war,
provided an excellent opportunity for the final solution of the Acadian
problem without further worry about the Acadians becoming a war threat
by joining the French. Lieutenant Governor Lawrence and his Council now
moved to the climactic stroke: an order for the expulsion of every Acadian
from Nova Scotia soil. The order was issued illegally, without authority
from Britain or from the absent Governor Hopson, but with a pliant legal
opinion handed down by Chief Justice Jonathan Belcher, Jr.
The grand genocidal design for eradication of the Acadians from the
land they had built was now under way. By a ruse the Acadian men
were assembled together, and were then suddenly denounced as rebels
by the authorities and taken prisoner without warning. All the land, the
cattle, and the corn of the Acadian people were confiscated by the Crown:
only ready cash and furniture could be removed from the province. All
the Acadian villages and many farms and homes were burned and destroyed
by the British troops, who also used every possible method to
flush out any Acadians hiding in the woods. In Posiquid, the British troops
arrogantly quartered themselves in a Roman Catholic church and took the
precaution of ordering the Acadians to furnish them with provisions before
rounding them up. To ensure submission, the young male prisoners were
coercively separated from their families.
The massive expulsion of the Acadians began in early October 1755,
and ship after ship, separating families and friends, conveyed the unfor-
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