<P> Many Acadians might have signed an unconditional oath to the British monarchy had the circumstances been better, while other Acadians did not sign because they were clearly anti-British . For the Acadians who might have signed an unconditional oath, there were numerous reasons why they did not . The difficulty was partly religious, in that the British monarch was the head of the (Protestant) Church of England . Another significant issue was that an oath might commit male Acadians to fight against France during wartime . A related concern was whether their Mi'kmaq neighbours might perceive this as acknowledging the British claim to Acadia rather than the Mi'kmaq . As a result, signing an unconditional oath might have put Acadian villages in dangers of attack from Mi'kmaq . </P> <P> In the Great Expulsion (le Grand Dérangement), after the Battle of Fort Beauséjour beginning in August 1755 under Lieutenant Governor Lawrence, approximately 11,500 Acadians (three - quarters of the Acadian population in Nova Scotia) were expelled, their lands and property confiscated, and in some cases their homes burned . The Acadians were deported throughout the British eastern seaboard colonies from New England to Georgia . Although measures were taken during the embarkation of the Acadians to the transport ship, some families became split up . After 1758, thousands were transported to France . Most of the Acadians who went to Louisiana were transported there from France on five Spanish ships provided by the Spanish Crown to populate their Louisiana colony and provide farmers to supply New Orleans . The Spanish had hired agents to seek out the dispossessed Acadians in Brittany and the effort was kept secret so as not to anger the French King . These new arrivals from France joined the earlier wave expelled from Acadia, creating the Cajun population and culture . </P> <P> The Spanish forced the Acadians they had transported to settle along the Mississippi River, to block British expansion, rather than Western Louisiana where many of them had family and friends and where it was much easier to farm . Rebels among them marched to New Orleans and ousted the Spanish governor . The Spanish later sent infantry from other colonies to put down the rebellion and execute the leaders . After the rebellion in December 1769 the Spanish Governor O'Reilly permitted the Acadians who had settled across the river from Natchez to resettle on the Iberville or Amite river closer to New Orleans . </P> <P> A second and smaller expulsion occurred when the British took control of the North Shore of what is now New Brunswick . After the fall of Quebec the British lost interest and many Acadians returned to British North America, settling in coastal villages not occupied by American colonists . A few of these had evaded the British for several years but the brutal winter weather eventually forced them to surrender . Some returnees settled in the region of Fort Sainte - Anne, now Fredericton, but were later displaced by the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolution . </P>

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