America's forgotten atrocity

Realistically, though, one thing that worked to the Acadians' advantage was the fact that until some point in the 18th century, no one really has effective authority over them.

That's right.

They go back and forth from French to English sovereignty, but neither side is able to exercise control.

The comparative example that I know in the American context, and which is similarly successful in asserting neutrality, is the Iroquois. In 1705 the Iroquois Confederacy declares that it will be neutral in the struggle between Britain and France. Iroquois neutrality, which is then copied by other native peoples, becomes an important part of the imperial pattern in North America during the early part of the 18th century. But the differences are profound, too. The Iroquois were armed warriors, they were extremely powerful, and both the British and the French were scared to death by the power of the Iroquois.

Whereas the Acadians had not an armed neutrality but an unarmed neutrality. Officially, they were placing themselves in an incredibly vulnerable position, but staking out a ground on principle. As I say, it worked for a good long time. Which is one of the reasons why I see them not as victims but as tragic figures. By the time the British decide that an unconditional oath is required, this notion of Acadian neutrality had become so deeply imbued in Acadian culture that there was no way they could give it up. They couldn't give it up without abandoning their own identity.

To use another contemporary concept, they were practicing a variety of nonviolent civil disobedience, which lasted for several generations.

Yeah, in a way they were. Their experience was that if they resisted long enough, the British always gave in. So they were caught by surprise in 1755, when the British finally said, "OK, well then, that's it." At that point, the records suggest that the Acadians said, "Well, then maybe we'll change our minds," but really the British were just looking for an excuse to carry out the expulsion. By that point the British had brought in Protestant settlers, they're gearing up to attack the French forts. I think the fact that they already had a plan of expulsion is pretty good circumstantial evidence that the oath is just a pretext. It's the proximate cause, but it's not the reason.

Over my shoulder, my grandparents and great-grandparents are calling out from their graves and saying: "What about Ireland?" You cite the parallels in Irish history a couple of times; didn't Edmund Spenser suggest this exact solution to the "Irish question" -- uproot the natives and plant loyal settlers?

Yes, he did. Absolutely. My argument is that this episode of ethnic cleansing is the first of its kind in North American history. Certainly it happened in Europe many times, no doubt about that. When the British sent over their new military government in 1749, a good number of officers attached to that government had participated directly in the campaign to suppress the Scottish in 1745, and the removal of the highland Scots. They have a plan that they've already carried out against the Scots, and they're bringing it to America.

My declaration is that this is something new in North America. It's not a pogrom, it's not a folk movement, it's not the result of some victory in battle. This is an organized campaign, at the state level, organized and hierarchically carried out, to remove all the people of a small nation and ship them elsewhere. This is the first time this happens in America. It wouldn't be the last time, unfortunately. It's exactly the kind of operation that would be carried out against the Cherokee.

The Trail of Tears.

Exactly. And many, many other times against Native Americans. Ethnic cleansing operations in the 19th century become common; this is just the first time it happens.

In your account, the Acadians were repeatedly blamed for events they had nothing to do with, or could not control. Indians attack settler villages in Maine or Massachusetts, and Puritan preachers stir up hatred against the "neutral French" because they're seen as sinister figures, possibly in cahoots with the Indians. You don't want to look into the past and see the present, but I don't know: the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, the Gulf of Tonkin, the spurious connection between al-Qaida and Saddam. Is this a pattern in American history?

Certainly there are plenty of comparable incidents in a situation where states are looking for rhetorical public justifications for their actions. And sure, the Acadians are a case in point. But there's no discounting the extent to which the Native raids on New England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries completely terrorized the population. One can sympathize with the felt need on the part of the colonists to find people against whom to retaliate. They found it extremely difficult to locate these Native attackers. The Natives knew the forests, they could shift from place to place, they were able to avoid destructive raids on their own people for the most part. In that context, the Acadians -- who were friends of the Indians and who were fixed in a location -- became very attractive and inviting targets. It's easy to understand it even while criticizing it as misplaced hostility.

That all sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? Being subjected to a terrible attack, and then taking it out on somebody else when you can't find the people who did it.

Absolutely.

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