The Deportation of the Acadians is an expression used to designate the mass expropriation and deportation of Acadians, a French-speaking people of America, during the British takeover of French colonies in North America, in the second half of the 18th century. .

At the time, the elimination of conquered communities through deportation did not constitute an exceptional measure. The French and British often used this process during their colonial history. But what appears to be different from current practices is that the Acadians were deported more than forty years after their conquest (1713), a fact already very exceptional in itself, and that few were sent to French territories, but in British territories, because they were considered “undesirable subjects of Her Majesty”. However, it was rather customary to return the conquered populations to their original homeland (colonies or metropolis). In addition, this deportation constitutes one of the first large-scale ethnic cleansing operations, because previously much smaller groups were deported1.

The deportation of Acadians took place mainly in 1755, although movements were organized until the end of the Seven Years' War, i.e. 1763. Of the 18,000 individuals living in Acadia (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick), Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island), Île Royale (Cape Breton Island and the Isthmus of Chignecto), more than 12,000 Acadians were deported, and approximately 8,000 died before reaching their destination due to epidemics, cold, poverty, malnutrition or shipwreck. Many of the survivors would continue their wanderings for several years, if not decades, before finding land in which to settle. This explains why the Acadians, and their descendants, live in very different regions of the globe: Canada (Acadia, Quebec), Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon archipelago, East Coast of the United States, Louisiana (the Cajuns), Antilles, United Kingdom, France, and as far as the distant Falkland Islands. By the Treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713, the most populated part of Acadia and its more than 1,700 inhabitants were ceded to Great Britain, who became British subjects2. Four hundred British soldiers remained there and a military government saved Britain from having to create a legislature with an Acadian majority.

From 1720 the first plans for mass deportation were drawn up. On December 28, 1720, in London, the Lords of Boards wrote: “It seems to us that the French of Nova Scotia will never be good subjects of His Majesty... This is why we believe that they will have to be expelled as soon as the forces that we intend to send to you have arrived in New