Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, February 23, 1999

Important dates in the settlement and dispersion of the Acadians

by Jim Bradshaw

Norman, Breton, and Basque fishermen begin visiting Newfoundland's Grand Banks.

1507

A Norman fisherman brings seven Indians with him when he returns to Rouen after fishing the Grand Banks.

1509

Henry VIII becomes King of England.

1515

Francis I becomes king of France.

1519

French, Portuguese, and British fishing outposts are found on the shores of Newfoundland, the Acadian peninsula, Cape Breton Island, and the St. Lawrence River.

1524

Italian explorer Giovanni Verrazano stops at a place on the Atlantic Coast so lovely that he names it Arcadia, for a place of beauty in ancient Greece.

1534

Jacques Cartier makes his first voyage to New France.

1547

Henry II becomes King of France. Edward VI bemmes King of England.

1550

Francis II becomes King of France.

1553

Mary I becomes Queen of England.

1558

Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England.

1560

Charles IX becomes King of France.

1574

Henry III becomes King of France.

1577-1580

Francis Drake becomes the first to sail around the world.

1578

Queen Elizabeth gives a charter to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, granting him the right to "inhabit and possess all remote and heathen lands not in the actual possession of any Christian prince." Gilbert is lost at sea, and his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, inherits his claim.

1584

Raleigh lands in present-day North Carolina and names the land Virginia in honor of the "Virgin, Queen," Elizabeth I.

1585

Raleigh sends a colonizing expedition to Roanoke Island, Va. The settlement lasts less than a year.

1587

Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed in England.

1588

A British fleet defeats the Spanish Armada and opens the Atlantic to ships from other nations.

• The French monarchy begins to grant fur trading monopolies to groups of merchants interested in Acadie.

1589

Henry IV becomes King of France.

1598

King Henry IV proclaims the Edict of Nantes, which establishes religious tolerance in France.

1603

Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts is given exclusive fur trading rights in the region of Acadie.

• James I becomes King of England

1604

On April 7, Pierre de Gua, Sieur de Monts, sails from France with Samuel Champlain and a tiny fleet to establish a tiny settlement on Saint Croix Island in the Bay of Fundy.

1605

The Saint Croix habitation is moved to the Acadian peninsula and renamed Port Royal.

1606

Settlers at Port Royal present the first theater performance in North America, Le Théâtre de Neptune, and Samuel Champlain founds the Ordre du Bon Temps (Order of Good Cheer), in which settlers had to take turns providing game and fish for the table.

• Queen Elizabeth of England grants royal charters to the Company of London and to the Virginia Company of Plymouth.

• The first expedition by the Plymouth Company is waylaid by the Spanish in the Caribbean.

1607

On May 24, de Monts receives the news that his fur trading monopoly in Acadie has been rescinded.

• The London Company founds Jamestown, Va.

1608

Champlain establishes Québec.

• Pilgrims flee England to escape religious persecution; they end up in The Netherlands.

1609

Henry Hudson sails up the river bearing his name in search of a Northwest Passage to China.

• Virginia is incorporated, and many new settlers arrive.

• The Spanish found Santa Fe.

1610

King Henry IV of France is assassinated. Louis XIII becomes King of France.

• Lord Delaware arrives in Jamestown to take control for the Virginia Company.

• Jean de Biencort, Sieur de Poutrincourt, sails to France in hopes of finding backing to revitalize the Acadian colony.

1612

The Dutch settle what will become New York City.

• Tobacco is established as a crop in Virginia.

1613

When disputes arise over ownership of the Acadian colonial rights, Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville, sends a ship to Port Royal to carry away anything that can be transported. Port Royal is left to fend for itself without any backing from France.

• Samuel Argall attacks Dutch and French settlements in New England.

1615

Samuel Champlain discovers Lake Huron for the French.

1617

Claude de La Tour sails to France to try to recruit colonists for the Acadian colony.

• The Dutch settle Albany, NY

1619

The Pilgrims are granted a charter to settle in Virginia.

• Samuel Argall is sent from Virginia on another raid of the Acadian settlements.

• First slaves are sold in Virginia.

1620

The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower land at Plymouth Rock.

• Basing his claim upon explorations by John Cabot in the 1400s, King James I declares that Massachusetts includes all of New France and the Acadian Peninsula.

1621

The British crown gives title to "Nova Scotia" to Scotsman William Alexander, formally establishing rival claims for the land the French call Acadie.

• The Dutch West India Company is formed to colonize the New World.

1624

Cardinal Richelieu becomes the chief minister to King Louis XIII of France.

1615

Charles I becomes King of England.

1626

Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island and names it New Amsterdam.

1628

The Kirke brothers, sailing for England, destroy several French posts in North America.

1629

The Massachusetts Bay Colony is formed in England with John Winthrop as governor.

• William Alexander begins a Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia, names former Poutrincourt ally Claude de La Tour as Baronet of Nova Scotia, and gives him a large land grant there. La Tour tries to convince his son, Charles, who is in command of the Acadian settlement, to join the British. Charles refuses.

• The Council for New England grants New Hampshire to John Mason.

• King Charles I of England grants Robert Heath the territory named Carolina.

1630

Father and son, Claude and Charles de La Tour, take up arms against each other in Acadie.

• Puritans settle Salem, Mass. for the Massachusetts Bay Co.

• Boston is founded.

1631

Sir Fernando Gorges begins settlement of the Maine and New Hampshire areas for the British.

1632

The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye returns New France and Acadie to French control.

• Isaac de Razilly is named governor of Acadie. He travels to the colony with 300 people, livestock, seeds, tools, arms, and everything needed to maintain a permanent agricultural community.

• King Charles of England gives the Maryland charter to Lord Baltimore.

1633

Charles de La Tour attacks the British settlement at Machias, Maine, because he fears traders there will poach profits from his operations at Jemseg on the Bay of Fundy.

1635

French traders from Acadie attempt to oust British traders from the Penobscot Bay area.

• Boundary disputes arise between Maryland and Virginia.

1636

In April, the ship Saint-Jehan sails from France bringing the first families to Acadie.

• Charles de Menou, Sieur d'Aulnay et de Charnisay, and Charles de La Tour begin fighting for supremacy in Acadie.

• Roger Williams, an advocate of religious tolerance, is banished from Boston and founds Rhode Island.

1641

Ministers in France cancel Charles de La Tour's trading concession and tell him to come to France to explain his fight against d'Aulnay. La Tour refuses to go.

1642

Civil war breaks out in England between the Puritans and supporters of King Charles I.

1643

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Plymouth and New Hampshire confederate as the "United Colonies of New England."

• Louis XIV becomes King of France.

• Charles de La Tour attacks a fort held by d'Aulnay at Port Royal.

1644

The French government declares Charles de La Tour an outlaw.

• Roger Williams receives a formal charter for Rhode Island.

1651

After d'Aulnay's death, fights erupt again over ownership of rights in Acadie.

• England tries to block Dutch trade with North America.

1652

Massachusetts claims Maine.

1653

Oliver Cromwell takes power in England.

1654

A British force from Boston heads for Acadie with instructions from Cromwell to clear the French from the place. The British capture Port Royal and some other Acadian settlements.

1656

Massachusetts banishes Quakers.

1660

The monarchy is restored, as Charles II becomes King of England.

1662

Connecticut receives an official charter.

1664

Britain and the Netherlands renew an old war. Part of the dispute is over the English king's gift to the British Duke of York of all Dutch holdings in North America. France allies with the Dutch.

• The Duke of York forms New Jersey.

• Peter Stuyvesant gives up his colony; New Amsterdam becomes New York.

1667

Treaty of Breda ends fighting between the Dutch and English. Acadie is restored to French hands.

1670

The British Hudson's Bay Co. is formed.

1671

The first census is taken in Acadie.

1672

The French and Dutch begin fighting in Europe. This time, Britain allies with France. For a brief time, the Dutch claim title to Acadie.

• The Royal Africa Co. is granted a monopoly over slave trade to British colonies in North America.

1672

Acadian settlements begin at Beaubassin.

1673

Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explore the Mississippi River for France.

1674

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is given authority to explore the Mississippi River.

• Father Marquette establishes a mission at the site of present-day Chicago.

1675,

"King Philip's War" with the Indians interrupts La Salle exploration plans.

1680

New Hampshire separates from Massachusetts.

1681

William Penn establishes Pennsylvania.

1682

Acadians begin to settle the Grand Pré region.

• La Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi River and names the Louisiana territory.

1685

James II becomes King of England.

• French Huguenots flee French religious persecution and settle in Carolina.

1689

William and Mary become King and Queen of England.

1690

King William's War begins in North America as the French and their Indian allies stage attacks on bordering British colonies.

• British retaliate with an expedition against Port Royal, which is forced to surrender.

1691

New Englanders elect Edward Tyng of Maine as their governor of Acadie. He flees Port Royal when the Acadians tell him they will stand aside when the Indians attack and kill him.

1692

Delaware separates from Pennsylvania.

1694

English colonists form alliances with Iroquois Indians.

1697

King William's War ends. The Treaty of Ryswick restores Acadie to French hands.

1700

Massachusetts and New York expel Catholics.

1702

Queen Anne assumes the British throne.

1704

In May, during Queen Anne's War, British from New England again attack Acadian settlements but Port Royal holds out against the first assaults.

1707

New Englanders attack Port Royal again. The Acadians resist successfully.

1710

Acadians are, finally starved into submission at Port Royal. British commanders change the name of the settlement to Annapolis Royal in honor of Queen Anne. On Oct. 16, the banner of France is raised for the last time at the Port Royal fort.

1713

The Nova Scotian peninsula, part of the original Acadie is ceded from France to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht. This time it will stay in British hands.

1714

Queen Anne dies, and King George takes the throne in England. His new governor requires that the Acadians take an oath of allegiance to the British crown. They refuse.

1715

Louis XV becomes King of France.

1717

Col. Richard Phillips becomes governor of Acadia. He will remain governor for 32 years. One of his first actions is to try to get the Acadians to take an oath of allegiance. They refuse.

1718

A British study shows they need the Acadians to farm the lands and feed the men in British forts in Acadia.

1724

A French priest is killed and scalped during a British raid on an Abenaki Indian village on the coast of Maine. Micmac Indians and some Frenchmen retaliate. The English burn Acadian homes and villages in retaliation for the retaliation.

1726

Major Lawrence Armstrong becomes provincial administrator in Acadia. He ties to get the Acadians to take an unconditional oath of office. They refuse.

1739

The Acadians finally take an oath, but only upon the condition that they will not be required to bear arms against either the French or the British. They claim themselves to be "French Neutrals."

1745

The French fortress at Louisbourg falls to the British.

1746

Gov. Williams Shirley of Massachusetts writes to the Board of Trade in London, "the (French) will soon find a way to wrest Acadia from us if we do not remove the most dangerous French inhabitants and replace them with English families."

1749

Edward Cornwallis replaces Richard Phillips as governor of Acadia. He ties to get the Acadians to take an unconditional oath of allegiance. They refuse.

• Acadians begin fleeing in large numbers to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and other French-held areas.

1752

Capt. Peregrine Hopson replaces Cornwallis as Acadia's governor.

1754

Charles Lawrence replaces Hopson as governor in Acadia. He demands that the "French Neutrals" take an unconditional oath of allegiance to the British crown.

• In September, Lawrence prohibits the Acadians from shipping grain out of the province.

1755

In June, British troops are ordered to seize the arms and boats of the Acadians. Acadians who protest the action are sent to jail.

• In July, Acadian leaders tell Lawrence they will leave the area before they take an unconditional oath.

• On July 28, Lawrence presents the idea of expelling the Acadians to his chief advisors.

• On July 31, Lawrence sends orders to his commanders at the principal places of Acadia that (the Acadians) "shall be removed out of the country as soon as possible."

• On Aug. 9, the Acadians of the Chignecto Isthmus are told to meet at Fort Cumberland. They are suspicious and don't go. The meeting is reset for the next day and the Acadians are told its purpose is innocuous. All 400 who attend the meeting are arrested.

• On Sept. 5, Acadian men of the Grand Pré area are told to meet at their church. The 418 who gather are arrested.

• The first transport ships arrive at Grand Pré on Sept. 10 and the British began loading the Acadians aboard almost immediately.

• The first of the deportation ships sails for Delaware on Oct. 13.

1758

The government of Nova Scotia tries to entice New Englanders to settle on former Acadian lands.

1759

In April, a committee from Connecticut looks over the best Acadian lands.

1760

On May 21, a fleet of 22 ships sets sail from Connecticut bringing settlers from New England to old Acadie.

1762

The British try to deport Acadians who had not been caught during the first round-ups. Massachusetts refuses to accept the deportees.

1764

The British deportation order for Acadie is canceled. Acadians are given the right to own land once more in Nova Scotia.