Who were the Acadians in Nova Scotia?

Before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Nova Scotia was settled by the French and called by them “Acadia”. During the early part of the 18th century there was a war between the English and French, won by the English in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. For more than forty years, the Acadians remained in quiet possession of their homesteads and were not subjected to taxation by the English.

However, a war arose in 1755 between England and France. In the process, the Acadians sympathized with the French and refused to swear allegiance to the British. But they…