Student/Teacher

Map Analysis

Setting

Many French families started settling in Acadie in the middle of the 17th century. Approximately 14,000 of their descendants were directly affected by the Deportation of the Acadians between 1755 and 1764. Some of the deportees chose to return to Acadie after 1764, rejoining families who had escaped into the woods as well as prisoners who had been detained in the region's various British forts. These Acadians resettled in the Atlantic region and laid the foundation for a new Acadie.

Start-up question

How different was the geography of the Acadian settlements before and after the Deportation of 1755?

Task

Using the five geographical maps provided, analyse the way in which the Acadians settled in historical Acadie, before and after the Deportation of 1755.

Guidelines

• You will be shown five geographical maps illustrating the Acadian occupation of Acadie.
• Your first task will consist of finding the dates for these maps by using the information provided in the History section. Here are the dates to be matched to the maps: 1713, 1754, 1757, 1763 and 1803. Note that none of the texts specifically deal with this question; you will have to find elements of the answer in the different texts of the History section.
• Then, take part in a class discussion to provide a hypothesis and find elements of the answer to the start-up question, which you can write on your answer sheet.

Keywords

Here are a few keywords which you will learn during this activity:

• Colonization
• Deportation
• Space – Time
• Populate

Essential and optional resources

Essential resources

• Five maps of the Acadian population (PDF | HTML)
• Answer sheet (PDF | HTML)
• Web site: 1755: The History and the Stories
  History section

Optional resources

• Web site: Francophonies canadiennes: Identités culturelles
  Acadie section
  http://www.francoidentitaire.ca/acadie/accu/accucadr.htm