First Century After the Expulsion 75

of Colonel Compton in Malpeque at the turn of the century had to include one sheep as part of their annual rent”.

To conclude, Acadians of this period were carrying out subsistence farming since they barely produced enough to feed their large families. While poverty prevailed in most households, people were content with the bare minimum and apparently were healthy. John Lawson pointed out around 1850 that the Acadians were capable of raising a large family on what would be scarcely enough for one English-speak- ing man to live on’. In the years when crops were bad and when there was not enough flour to make bread or other basic foods, it was possible to avoid starvation thanks to hunting and fishing. A strong community spirit lead people to help each other and often to share their resources. This mutual help was particularly obvious on Candelmas Day. Indeed, on the 2nd of February young men went from door to door distributing the produce they had collected for the needy in their village. People usually contributed flour, potatoes, meat and other basic food items®’.

AN IMPOVERISHED CHURCH

The Treaty of Paris in 1763 guaranteed Acadians and other French settlers the right to practice the Catholic religion but only within the context of the laws of Great Britain®*. However, the rights of Catholics in Britain at the time were very limited; they were excluded from the House of Parliament, deprived of the right to vote and the right to purchase or inherit real estate®’. These restrictions and others were enforced by the governments put in place by the English after the conquest, including the government formed on the Island in 1770'®. The constraints were gradually lifted in order to allow Catholics to enjoy more civil rights. An amendment to the law in 1786 on Prince Edward Island granted Catholics the right to own land; it was not until 1830, however, that they gained the right to vote and to sit in the Legislature'®’.

During the French regime, Acadian Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Quebec, the only See in North America— a situation which was not altered by the conquest. When Monseigneur de Pontbriand died in 1760 six years elapsed before the British au-