18 THEISLAND ACADIANS 
     
    
   
   
    
     Consequently, they kept their distance from political conflicts, wanting 
     
     to coexist as well as possible with the authorities in power in order 
     
     to ensure some degree of security. On the other hand, the Acadians 
     
     showed their independence even under French rule by trading with 
     
     the neighbouring colonies in New England. The survival and economic 
     
     development of Acadia depended on the growth of this maritime trade. 
     
    

    
     In 1710 the Acadian capital of Port Royal was captured by troops 
     
     from New England. Three years later, with the Treaty of Utrecht which 
     
     was concluded at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, France 
     
     ceded Hudson Bay, Acadia and Newfoundland to England. The treaty 
     
     stipulated that within one year the Acadians had to leave the colony, 
     
     henceforth called Nova Scotia, or remain on condition that they be- 
     
     come British subjects. England guaranteed free exercise of the Catholic 
     
     religion “insofar as the laws of Great Britain allowed.” 
     
    

    
     Well-adapted on their land, the Acadians had no intention of 
     
     relocating. Given the chronic political instability of the past hundred 
     
     years, they had no reason to believe that this peace would be more 
     
     lasting than previous ones. Although they refused to take the oath of 
     
     allegiance to the British Crown in the form prescribed, the Acadians 
     
     stated that they were willing to become British subjects provided they 
     
     would not have to take up arms against France in the event of war. 
     
     In addition, they wanted assurance that their Catholic faith would 
     
     be respected. 
     
    

    
     Several English governors of Nova Scotia tried without success 
     
     to force the Acadians to take an oath of unconditional allegiance to 
     
     the monarch of Great Britain. The English threatened expulsion if 
     
     they refused to obey; however, neutrality meant too much for the 
     
     Acadians to be able to give in to such pressures. 
     
    

    
     This neutrality was put to the test during the 1740s when war 
     
     broke out again between France and England. During the conflict, 
     
     French troops stationed at Louisbourg tried in vain to recapture Acadia. 
     
     Despite pressure from the military, most Acadians refused to join the 
     
     ranks of the French army. A certain number did collaborate although 
     
     nearly all of them stated afterwards that they had been forced to do 
     
     so. These events prompted the British authorities to question the 
     
     neutrality of the Acadians. In order to occupy her territory more 
     
     efficiently England decided to send out Protestant colonists and build, 
     
     in 1749, the fortress town of Halifax as a counterpoise to Louisbourg.