|
MAIN PAGE | "How To" Book | Article Index | CMA | Links | Hébert Website |
|
|
|
|
| MARYLAND - 913 Acadians
You might think that Maryland, which was the
location of many English Catholics, might have offered a warmer welcome
than the other colonies. This was generally not the case. England
was still at war with the French and there was a strong bias against the
Catholics (Maryland was still mostly Protestant). Before the Acadians
arrived, the French presence in the Ohio Valley to the west of Maryland
caused them to distrust any French population. The newspaper (Maryland
Gazette) editor (Jonas Green) often warned of the French threat in
Nova Scotia, enciting public opinion against the Acadians. This anti-French/anti-Catholic
viewpoint was riding high, just when the Acadians showed up on their shores.
|
|
|
One of the major philantropists when it came to the Acadians was Henry Callister, who spent a good deal of money getting the Acadians in homes for the winter at Oxford and Wye River. He did this with some difficulty; a good portion of the population wanted nothing to do with the Acadians. Except for humanitarian help by a few in the cities (Annapolis, Balitmore, Oxford), most of the population distrusted the Acadians and let them starve and freeze. For example, Acadians in Somerset County had to take shelter in the swamps in the middle of winter, where many of them got sick and died. [History of Maryland, Scharf, p. 476] |
| In the spring of 1756, Governor
Sharpe pushed for public aid for the Acadians, but also wanted to prevent
their mobility. The legislature responded by demanding Acadians to
work for a living. If parents couldn't provide for children, those
children were to be bound out to farmers and craftsmen. And after
June 1, unemployed Acadians were to be put in jail until they could find
a job. Those counties with larger Acadian populations were allowed
to move them elsewhere to balance out the load. Acadians weren't
allowed into Frederick County to the west, which bordered French territory,
for fear of their joining the French. The law also said that if an
Acadian wanted to travel more than 10 miles from his home, he had to get
a passport from the local justice of the peace. If caught traveling
without a passport, they could be put in jail for 5 days and moved to another
area.
Things did not get better for the Acadians. A letter in the Feb. 10, 1757 Maryland Gazette says that the Acadians "cannot find houses, clothing, and other comforts, in their condition needful, without going from house to house begging, whereby they are become a nuisance." Charity continued to be given to the Acadians, but they stayed in poverty and people got tired of helping out. Their impoverished state also led to widespread disease such as pneumonia and smallpox ... reducing their numbers from 913 in December 1755 to 667 in 1763. From 1755 to 1763, the Maryland Acadians were poor, sick and saw their hopes (of returning home) disappear as the British victories piled up. Finally, the war came to an end in 1763. The French minister Nivernois wrote a letter to the Acadians in England offering an end to their stay in English territory. Copies of the letter made their way to the colonies. The Maryland Acadians sent a letter to the French ambassador on July 7, 1763 asking for help. England had given the Acadians 18 months to relocate, but the poor Acadians couldn't afford travel expenses. Though France wanted settlers in its tropical colonies, the Acadians wanted to return to Canada. Acadian representatives tried to get the Maryland goverment to provide financial aid to return them to Canada, but met with resistance. By now, word of the Acadian resettlement in Louisiana had made its way to Maryland. The Acadians in Maryland and Pennsylvania started making plans to sail to Louisiana. When faced with further financial support of the poor Acadians or sending them away, the colonial govenments finally came up with funds to assist them in their journey. In the latter 1760s, 90 percent (782) of the Acadians in the two colonies sailed for Louisiana. |
|
the Exile |
|
|
St. Domingue | Martinique | French Guiana | Falkland Islands | St. Pierre & Miquelon | Louisiana American Colonies: Connecticut | Georgia | Maryland | Massachusetts | New York | Pennsylvania | South Carolina |
Copyright © 1997-99 Tim Hebert
Note: The same ship, while heading from Halifax to Boston,
boarded 70 Acadians at Pubnico that were headed for North Carolina.
Return to text