Maine Historical Society

Forced Removals and Assimilation in Maine History

"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is written in dactylic hexameter, the style of classical European epics such as Homer's "Iliad."

Longfellow was familiar with the style as well as European languages, literature, and poetry. He would later publish (in 1867) the first English translation of Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" (Italian, 1314) in blank verse.

Longfellow's contributions to American poetry and literature included the development and introduction of mythopoetic figures into the cultural consciousness, and thus the creation of new American mythology.

Why Epic Poetry?

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?

Acadie, Evangeline, and the Acadian Diaspora

Longfellow's vision of Acadia was primarily influenced by his experiences growing up in Maine. He did, however, use two historical sources that helped him fill in the details of the real Acadia, and what life in Acadian communities was like prior to the removal. Today, Acadie/Acadia is wherever Acadians live. Some Acadians live in regions near to the first communities, such as Nova Scotia, Maine, and Quebec, others, who came to call themselves Cajuns, live in Louisiana and throughout the South, while still others live throughout North America and the world. Though much of the poem "Evangeline" was fantastical, it helped many people of Acadian descent (or, the Acadian Diaspora) reconnect with their history and with other Acadians, and spearheaded a movement to assert their survivance (cultural survival despite forced removals and assimilation by foreign governments).

Material culture refers to objects created by people for a particular use. What do these objects make you wonder about?

Material Culture of the Acadian Diaspora

This lesson plan will introduce students to the history of the forced expulsion of thousands of people from Acadia, the Romantic look back at the tragedy in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous epic poem Evangeline and the heroine's adoption as an Acadian cultural figure, and Maine's Acadian community today, along with their relations with Acadian New Brunswick and Nova Scotia residents and others in the Acadian Diaspora. Students will read and discuss primary documents, compare and contrast Le Grand Dérangement to other forced expulsions in Maine history and discuss the significance of cultural survival amidst hardships brought on by treaties, wars, and legislation.

- English Language Arts: RL 1.9-10, RL 1.11-12, RL 2.9-10, RL 2.11-12, RL 3.11-12, RL 5.9-10, RL 5.11-12, RL 9.11-12, SL 1.9-10, SL 1.11-12 


- Social Studies, Grades 9-12: History 1 – F1, F2, F3, F4, D1, D2, D3; History 2 – F1, F2, D1, D2 

"MMN" numbers on images refer to the corresponding object number on the Maine Memory Network, Maine's statewide digital museum maintained by the Maine Historical Society. Learn more or view closeups/transcripts of images at mainememory.net, or follow the link in the Educator Resources PDF for this lesson.

Read "Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" in its entirety at hwlongfellow.org, a Maine Historical Society website.

Maine Historical Society Evangeline Teacher Resource Packet.pdf

Maine Historical Society Evangeline Student Resource and Response Packet.pdf

Maine's Acadian Community: "Evangeline," Le Grand Dérangement, and Cultural Survival

U.S. History

Social Studies

Reading: Literature

English Language Arts

Illustration from 'The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with numerous illustrations.' Boston : Houghton, Mifflin and Company; James R. Osgood and Company, 1880. p. 152. This appears with the Longfellow poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish."

Longfellow's epic poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish" (1855) followed "Evangeline" as a work based on New England history. Priscilla Mullins and John Alden, Mayflower pilgrims featured in the poem, were maternal ancestors of Longfellow's.

What mythopoetic roles have Mayflower pilgrims played in the American public consciousness over time? How much of the literary interpretation of them is true?

The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with numerous illustrations

 ( Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; James R. Osgood and Company, 1880, p. 148).

One of Longfellow's best-known epic poems is "The Tale of Hiawatha" (1858). "Hiawatha" is not based on Wabanaki oral tradition, but Longfellow wrote about Indigenous subjects with some frequency. While "Hiawatha" is a Romantic poem for a primarily white Anglo-American audience, the story brought an Indigenous hero into the Victorian public consciousness.

What is the significance of an Indigenous hero in an epic poem written for a white American public?

The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with numerous illustrations.

 It was published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company; James R. Osgood and Company, 1880. p.194.

Longfellow's poems collected in "Tales of a Wayside Inn" were written between 1853-1863. This image comes from "The Saga of King Olaf," which draws its subject matter from the Eddas of Norse mythology.

What was the significance of writing a Norse epic hero into a collection of poetry for a 19th-century American audience?

An illustration of the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" from 'The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with numerous illustrations.' Boston : Houghton, Mifflin and Company; James R. Osgood and Company, 1880. p. 183-184. The poem is from "Tales of a Wayside Inn."

Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere remains one of the most influential references many American students have to the Revolutionary War veteran and silversmith. The poem solidified his status as a mythopoetic American hero, and Revere is arguably more widely known for his actions as the subject in Longfellow's poem than for his trade or other events of his life.

What were writers like Longfellow trying to achieve by introducing figures from American history into the American literary canon?

Does it matter that the mythopoetic version of Paul Revere is the one that is more enduring? Why or why not?

J. P. Davis & Speer illustration from 'The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with numerous illustrations.' Boston : Houghton, Mifflin and Company; James R. Osgood and Company, 1880. p. 86. This appears with the Longfellow poem "Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie."

The epic poem that launched Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's career was "Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie." Like the other epic poems he would write in his life, "Evangeline" makes Romantic heroes of figures based on American history.

What can you infer about the story of "Evangeline" from this image? What is happening in the illustration? What do you notice in the foreground and background?

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Maine's Acadian Community: "Evangeline," Le Grand Dérangement, and Cultural Survival

Why Epic Poetry?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Cambridge, ca. 1872. MMN #15955.