Under the French Regime 17

were attacked and destroyed on several occasions by British troops from New England.

It was not until after 1632 that the colonization of Acadia really began. With the Treaty of St. Germain en Laye, Acadia, conquered several years before, was given back to France. Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister under Louis XIII, devised an important plan for coloni- zation which would strengthen France’s position in America and exploit more advantageously the resources of the New World. Richelieu entrusted his cousin, Isaac de Razilly, with the colonization of Acadia in the name of the King of France.

Razilly and his successors attended to the recruitment of col- onists, many of whom came from the province of Poitou in western France. They began by settling in the vicinity of Port Royal on the south side of the Baie Francaise (Bay of Fundy) along the vast salt marshes which they drained and dyked, thus enabling them to success- fully farm the rich flood plains. Many of these pioneers had experience with the same type of terrain in their native French province’.

As the number of settlers increased, the Acadian colony stretched out along the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy right up to the head of Cobequid Bay and Chignecto Bay. According to the first census in 1671 there were about four hundred inhabitants and by 1707 the population was estimated at approximately eighteen hundred’.

The French colonists who settled in this part of North America soon formed a people with a distinct identity. Fundamentally a popu- lation of farmers, they developed a very intensive community life since the construction and upkeep of the dykes and aboiteaux required a strong spirit of co-operation. Many of the inhabitants not only came from the same regions in France but were also related. The homogeneity of the population was further strengthened by marriages that took place in Acadia.

There were other factors which helped foster the feeling of iden- tity and independence amongst the Acadians. Established ona strategic territory that constituted a buffer state between New France and New England, the Acadians often found themselves victims of the struggles between France and England. In fact, Acadia changed hands nine times between 1604 and 1710 and was attacked about ten times by British troops. Never enjoying the political stability that characterized New France, the Acadians soon learned to rely on their own resources.