Destruction of Acadian Villages in the Beaubassin Region
In the early 1750s, the Acadian population was mostly found in the British territory of peninsular Nova Scotia and still refused to swear an unconditional oath of allegiance to King George II of Great Britain. The foundation of the fortress-city Halifax in 1749 considerably increased the British military presence on the territory and confrontations between British and French forts multiplied. The French authorities burned many Acadian villages because they wanted the Acadian families to leave peninsular Nova Scotia and go north to île Saint-Jean (today's Prince Edward Island) or the isthmus of Chignectou region, a territory claimed by France and where the Forts Beauséjour and Gaspareaux were located. Entire villages, including Beaubassin, Menoudie, La Butte and Rivière-des-Hébert, were burned down.