Editing Cajuns (section)

===History of Acadian ancestors===
{{Main|History of the Acadians}}
{{See also|Acadians|New France|Expulsion of the Acadians}}
[[File:Joseph_Broussard_en_Acadia_HRoe_2009.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Acadian people|Acadian]] militia captain [[Joseph Broussard|Joseph "Beausoleil" Broussard]]]]

The British [[Siege of Port Royal (1710)|conquest of Acadia]] happened in 1710. Over the next 45 years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to [[the Crown]]. During this period, Acadians participated in various military operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French fortress of [[Louisbourg]] and [[Fort Beausejour]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Grenier |title=Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia 1710–1760 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8061-3876-3 }}</ref> During the [[French and Indian War]] (part of the Seven Years' War and known by that name in Canada and Europe), the British sought to neutralize the Acadian military threat and to interrupt their vital supply lines to Louisbourg by [[Expulsion of the Acadians|deporting Acadians]] from Acadia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Stephen E.|chapter=Indian-White Relations in Nova Scotia, 1749-61: A Study in Political Interaction|editor1=P.A. Buckner|editor2=Gail G. Campbell|editor3=David Frank|title=The Acadiensis Reader: Atlantic Canada Before Confederation|edition=3rd|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnxIPgAACAAJ&pg=PA105|year=1998|publisher=Acadiensis Press|isbn=978-0-919107-44-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/atlanticcanadabe0000unse/page/105 105-106]|url=https://archive.org/details/atlanticcanadabe0000unse/page/105}}<br />•&nbsp;{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Stephen E.|chapter=1744–1763: Colonial Wars and Aboriginal Peoples|editor1=Phillip Buckner|editor2=John G. Reid|title=The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2spDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|year=1994|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4875-1676-5|page=144|jstor=10.3138/j.ctt15jjfrm}}</ref> The territory of [[Acadia]] was afterward divided and apportioned to various British colonies, now Canadian provinces: [[Nova Scotia]], New Brunswick, [[Prince Edward Island]], the [[Gaspe Peninsula]] in the province of [[Quebec]]. The deportation of the Acadians from these areas beginning in 1755 has become known as the [[Great Upheaval]] or ''Le Grand Dérangement''.

[[File:Deportation of Acadians order, painting by Jefferys.jpg|thumb|150px|The [[Expulsion of the Acadians|deportation]] of the [[Acadians]].]]

The Acadians' migration from Canada was spurred by the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763 Treaty of Paris]] which ended the war. The treaty terms provided 18 months for unrestrained emigration.  Many Acadians moved to the region of the [[Atakapa]] in present-day Louisiana, often travelling via the French colony of [[Saint-Domingue]] (now [[Haiti]]).<ref>{{cite book |first=Gabriel |last=Debien |chapter=The Acadians in Santo-Domingo, 1764–1789 |editor-first=Glenn R. |editor-last=Conrad |title=The Cajuns: Essays on their History and Culture |location=Lafayette, La. |year=1978 |pages=21–96 |oclc=4685896 }}</ref> [[Joseph Broussard]] led the first group of 200 Acadians to arrive in Louisiana on February 27, 1765, aboard the ''Santo Domingo''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carencrohighschool.org/LA_Studies/ParishSeries/LafayetteParish/Broussard.htm|title=Carencro High School- Preparing Students for Life|access-date=May 3, 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521212233/http://www.carencrohighschool.org/LA_Studies/ParishSeries/LafayetteParish/Broussard.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2009 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2023}} On April 8, 1765, he was appointed militia captain and commander of the "Acadians of the Atakapas" region in [[St. Martinville, Louisiana|St. Martinville]].<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/etudacad/1755/index.cfm?id=010505000&lang=en&style=G&admin=false&linking=| title =History:1755-Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil (c. 1702–1765)| access-date =March 14, 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090520171929/http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/etudacad/1755/index.cfm?id=010505000&lang=en&style=G&admin=false&linking=| archive-date =May 20, 2009 }}</ref> Some of the settlers wrote to their family scattered around the Atlantic to encourage them to join them at New Orleans. For example, Jean-Baptiste Semer wrote to his father in France:

{{Blockquote|My dear father ... you can come here boldly with my dear mother and all the other Acadian families. They will always be better off than in France. There are neither duties nor taxes to pay and the more one works, the more one earns without doing harm to anyone.|Jean-Baptiste Semer, 1766<ref>"Letter by Jean-Baptiste Semer, an Acadian in New Orleans, to His Father in Le Havre, April 20, 1766".  Transl. Bey Grieve. ''Louisiana History'' 48 (spring 2007): 219–26 [http://jfmouhot.free.fr/prive/documents/Mouhot--Semer_Letter.fdf Link to full transcription of the Letter by Jean-Baptist Semer]</ref>}}

The Acadians were scattered throughout the eastern seaboard. Families were split and boarded ships with different destinations.<ref>John Mack Faragher (2005). ''A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland'', New York: W. W. Norton, 562 pages {{ISBN|0-393-05135-8}} [https://archive.org/details/greatnoblescheme00fara Online excerpt]</ref> Many ended up west of the [[Mississippi River]] in what was then [[French colonization of the Americas|French-colonized]] Louisiana, including territory as far north as [[The Dakotas|Dakota territory]]. France had ceded the colony to [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spain in 1762]], prior to their defeat by Britain and two years before the first Acadians began settling in Louisiana.  The interim French officials provided land and supplies to the new settlers. The Spanish [[List of colonial governors of Louisiana|governor]], [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], later proved to be hospitable, permitting the Acadians to continue to speak their language, practice their native religion ([[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] – which was also the official religion of Spain), and otherwise pursue their livelihoods with minimal interference. Some families and individuals did travel north through the Louisiana territory to set up homes as far north as [[Wisconsin]].  Acadians fought in the [[American Revolution]]. Although they fought for Spanish General Galvez, their contribution to the winning of the war has been recognized.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acadian-home.org/american-revolution.html|title=Acadia:Acadians:American Revolution:Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home|access-date=May 3, 2016}}</ref>

Galvez left New Orleans with an army of Spanish regulars and the Louisiana militia made up of 600 Acadian volunteers and captured the British strongholds of [[Fort Bute]] at [[Bayou Manchac]], across from the Acadian settlement at St. Gabriel. On September 7, 1779, Galvez [[Capture of Fort Bute|attacked Fort Bute]] and then on September 21, 1779, attacked and [[Battle of Baton Rouge (1779)|captured Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Spanish Conquest of British West Florida, 1779–1781|last=Haarmann|first=Albert|journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly|volume=39|number=2|page=112|date=October 1960|jstor=30150253}}</ref>

A review of participating soldiers shows many common Acadian names among those who fought in the battles of Baton Rouge and West Florida. The Galvez Chapter of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] was formed in memory of those soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geocities.com/patriot2325/galvez.html|access-date=March 17, 2011|archive-date=October 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026041623/http://geocities.com/patriot2325/galvez.html|last=Broussard|first=Karen|date=March 11, 2004|publisher=National Society of the American Revolution, Galvez Chapter|location=Lafayette, LA|title=History of the Galvez Chapter}}</ref>

The Spanish colonial government settled the earliest group of Acadian exiles west of New Orleans, in what is now south-central Louisiana—an area known at the time as Attakapas, and later the center of the [[Acadiana]] region.  As Brasseaux wrote, "The oldest of the pioneer communities ... Fausse Point, was established near present-day [[Loreauville]] by late June 1765."<ref>{{cite book|last=Brasseaux|first=Carl A.|year=1987| title=The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765–1803|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|pages=91–92|isbn=0-8071-1296-8}}</ref> The Acadians shared the swamps, bayous, and prairies with the [[Attakapa]] and [[Chitimacha]] Native American tribes.

After the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|end]] of the [[American Revolutionary War]], about 1,500 more Acadians arrived in New Orleans. About 3,000 Acadians had been deported to France during the Great Upheaval.  In 1785, about 1,500 were authorized to emigrate to Louisiana, often to be reunited with their families, or because they could not settle in France.<ref>Jean-Francois Mouhot (2009), ''Les Réfugiés Acadiens en France (1758–1785): L'Impossible Réintégration?'' Quebec: Septentrion, 456p.</ref> Living in a relatively isolated region until the early 20th century, Cajuns today are largely assimilated into the mainstream society and culture.  Some Cajuns live in communities outside Louisiana.  Also, some people identify themselves as Cajun culturally despite lacking Acadian ancestry.