Acadie, or Acadia, was a region in North America founded by French immigrants in the early 1600s. The land, comprising much of what today is known as Nova Scotia, Maine, and Quebec, is situated on Mi'kmaq Homelands and the Homelands of other Wabanaki peoples. Acadians were forcibly removed from Acadie by British and American government agents multiple times in the interest of re-settling Acadian farmland with Protestants. The Acadie in Longfellow's poem draws from history, and "Evangeline" became a cultural touchstone for people in the Acadian Diaspora in the 19th and 20th centuries. How does this timeline help to contextualize the story of Le Grand Dérangement? What questions do you still have?

Image shown: Plan of the British and American positions, Aroostook War, 1843, by Nathaniel Dearborn. MMN #9598.

The "Aroostook War," during which there were no casualties, was the boiling point for Northeastern boundary disputes. This map shows British and American positions in the early 1840s. British Foreign Secretary Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, was the British designee for signing the treaty that ended the Aroostook war and determined the Northeastern boundary. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State to President John Tyler, was the American signor of the treaty determining the Northeastern border. Known as the Treaty of Washington or the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, this document was the final determination of the border between Maine and New Brunswick, but also helped to define the American-Canadian border at the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

Aroostook War

This March 2, 1760 article of submission professes Acadian allegiance to the British.

England assumed rule over Acadia following the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which ended the War of Spanish Succession. English and French powers alike feared the Spanish rising as the dominant European power, and the English also feared France rising to that same status.

As a result of the Treaty of Utrecht, Acadians became subjects of the English crown. The Acadians, however, tried to remain neutral, not wanting to be caught between either French or English interests. Some individual Acadians allied with one side or the other, but the group as a whole attempted neutrality. Acadie/Acadia had been its own country for more than a century; allegiance to France had faded as Acadians developed their own culture.

View the full article and read a transcription on Maine Memory Network: https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/17240

Acadian Submission to the British. MMN #17240.

After decades of attempts at a successful vote, Maine was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise. This map was created in 1820 by Maine cartographer Moses Greenleaf (MMN #104603). Note that there are no formal western or northern boundaries drawn on this map.

Maine Becomes a State

Acadian Flag created in 2002. MMN #10012.

The Acadian community enjoyed a cultural revitalization in the latter half of the 19th century as more of the public became interested in the history of le Grand Derangement following the popularity of "Evangeline." It was not Longfellow's intention to spark interest in the event itself; his primary focus was on the story of enduring love, and he had not foreseen the additional outcomes of the work that truly launched his career as a poet.

The Acadian flag was adopted by the Acadian community in 1884, following its 1883 design by Father Marcel-Francois Richard and sewn by Marie Babineau. The Acadian flag shows homage to France, while the star represents the Acadian patron saint, the Virgin Mary (Notre Dame de l'Assomption), who Acadians say guided them through their suffering. A version with a Fleur-de-lis instead of the star is often seen in Louisiana to represent the Acadian/Cajun community. Maine Acadians did not accept the flag for some time, but it now flies on buildings throughout the state.

Grand Pre remains a pilgrimage site for hundreds of Acadians today.

Acadian Survivance

New Brunswick Treaty of Washington anniversary proclamation, 1992. MMN #10125.

This 1992 Proclamation was printed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the treaty of Washington/Webster-Ashburton Treaty that ended the Aroostook War. It was signed by Frank McKenna, Premiere of New Brunswick.

Anniversary of the Treaty of Washington

Map of St Croix or Bone Island by Samuel de Champlain. MMN #11823.

Samuel de Champlain, the creator of this 1613 map, was considered to be the founder of Acadie, though the 1604 expedition that led to the first French interaction with the area was led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur du Monts. Champlain was Catholic, and Sieur du Monts was Protestant.

It was common for European explorers and navigators to map areas that were new to them in ways that a European audience would recognize. Much of the area of what is now known as North America that was explored by Champlain is situated within Wabanaki Homelands. Note that Champlain describes Wabanaki homes on this map.

Though Champlain created the original map shown here in 1613, this image is of a 1799 copy. Copying historic maps was often a way for Europeans and Euro-Americans to dispute or agree upon borders that were imposed on the areas in question by earlier European settler-colonists.

First Exploration of Acadie by the French

Image shown: Map of the British & French North America, 1765 (copy of a map from 1755), by cartographer John Mitchell. MMN #11827.

Acadians had settled Acadie by around 1607. Most Acadians' livelihood involved irrigating the marshy terrain into farmland using an aboiteaux system of creating sluiceways. After the land had proved useful for farming, Acadie caught the attention of British (including English and British North American or Canadian and early American) governments. Acadians practiced Catholicism, and British North Americans feared that they were also French loyalists. There were multiple forced removals, but one of the most significant was le Grand Dérangement (or, the Great Removal or Great Exile) of August 1755, upon which the story of "Evangeline" is based. Acadians were forcibly removed in large numbers from their homes, and many were separated from their families. Some escaped into Mi'kmaq communities, Quebec, and Northern Maine, while others were sent by ship down the Atlantic Seaboard in North America, to France, or to other places in Europe. Many never reconnected with their family members after having been separated. Large numbers of Acadians were deported to or moved to northern Maine and to the south, eventually settling in Louisiana.

Le Grand Dérangement

Image shown: Engraving of Evangeline, by James Faed, ca. 1854. MMN #5431.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow optioned the story of two Acadian lovers who were separated by le Grand Dérangement from his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had first been given the option to write the story as a novel. Longfellow created instead an epic poem, centered on the heroine Evangeline, who loses her father and is separated from her new husband Gabriel when the Acadians are forcibly removed from their homes.

"Evangeline" was Longfellow's breakout success, prompting multiple editions and spinning off into merchandise and themed travel packages. Longfellow's audience in the mid-19th century at the dawn of the Victorian era loved the tragic romance and were eager to tour the real Grand Pre in Nova Scotia, though Longfellow based much of his descriptions of Acadie as "the forest primeval" from his experiences with Maine wilderness.

This engraving by James Faed was reportedly Longfellow's favorite of the heroine.

Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is Published

MMN item #12326.

The continued success of "Evangeline" into the 20th century saw its development into theatrical productions, response prose and poetry, and two silent films, the first in 1922 and the second, in 1929, starring Dolores del Rio as the titular heroine.

This program from a 1902 theatrical production starred an actor identified as Miss Livermore in the title role, and was produced to benefit the preservation of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, which had been given to the Maine Historical Society the previous year following the death of Longfellow's sister, Anne Longfellow Pierce, who had left it to the Society.

An adaptation of the "Evangeline" story entitled "Acadian Reminiscences: The True Story of Evangeline" was published by Louisiana Judge Felix Vorhees in 1907, with several of its elements taken for some time as fact in Louisiana, and particularly St. Martinville, the location of the "Evangeline Oak," where supposedly separated lovers Evangeline and Gabriel met again, only for Evangeline to discover, in the Voorhees version, that Gabriel has found a new love.

Read the full program online on Maine Memory Network: https://www.mainememory.net/media/pdf/12326.pdf

Standards for Acadie, Evangeline, and the Acadian Diaspora