Recherche

...f woolwich, maine), and in 1713 the treaty of utrecht, ending the war of the spanish succession, gave it to england. under the british, port royal, renamed annapolis royal, remained stubbornly french in sentiment - so much so that in 1755 the british anticipating another war with france, decided to evacuate the french-speaking residents as a security measure. the result was the famous expulsion of the acadians immortalized in henry wadsworth longfellow's poem "evangeline". by that time, the population seems to have been almost if not completely catholic, perhaps the result of passive resistance. (friends note: hmmmmmm...! it would be good journalism to have a short example of "passive resistance" documented at this point.) in 1625, the crown banned all religions except roman catholicism in canada. all permanent residents had to be catholic, although protestant traders were permitted as nonresidents. according to the "encyclopedia of the north american colonies", the ban was specifically extended to acadia in 1659 indicating both that acadia and canada were viewed as separate entities and that the earlier banning of the huguenots had not had the same effect in acadia as in quebec. it proved more difficult to wipe out protestantism in acadia than along the st. lawrence river because of acadia's proximity to the english colonies, because of fresh acadian settlements sponsored by de poutrincout and his son, and because of the ubiquitous presence of huguenot sailors and merchants in the area. indeed, huguenot traders continued to operate there throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. most historians agree that france lost its possessions in north america because its settlers were badly outnumbered by the english. charles w. baird, the american historian who chronicled the huguenots in america, considers the exclusion of the huguenots from new france "one of the most stupendous blunders that history records." he expre...