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Heroes of the Acadian Resistance: The Story of Joseph Beausoleil Broussard and Pierre II Surette 1702-1765
"Heroes of the Acadian Resistance" tells the unique and little-known story of the young men who led an Acadian resistance in 18th century Nova Scotia. They fought valiantly in a guerilla campaign against the British to save their homes and families from destruction and deportation.
Their battle was against a form of ethnic cleansing that saw British soldiers burn every remnant of the Acadian community -- homes, barns and churches. All Acadians who the soldiers were able to round up were forcibly deported.
The French government used missionary priests as government agents to generate resistance amongst Mi'kmaq and Acadian Catholics in an attempt to regain Nova Scotia from British domination. Their efforts were welcomed by some Acadians who had their own reasons for resisting British rule. The guerilla campaign which ensued was well underway before the deportation, and continued after the majority of Acadians had been captured and forcibly exiled.
"Heroes of the Acadian Resistance" tells the story of that resistance and two young Acadians who proved to be leaders in these battles -- Joseph Beausoleil Broussard and Pierre II Surette. Beausoleil, who like many fellow Acadians ended up in Louisiana, is remembered in the Cajun community as a great Acadian hero. Surette lived out his days in Yarmouth County in Nova Scotia, an area which is still home to many of Surette's descendants.
This book offers a fresh perspective on the tragic events of the Acadian expulsion from 18th century Nova Scotia.
Their battle was against a form of ethnic cleansing that saw British soldiers burn every remnant of the Acadian community -- homes, barns and churches. All Acadians who the soldiers were able to round up were forcibly deported.
The French government used missionary priests as government agents to generate resistance amongst Mi'kmaq and Acadian Catholics in an attempt to regain Nova Scotia from British domination. Their efforts were welcomed by some Acadians who had their own reasons for resisting British rule. The guerilla campaign which ensued was well underway before the deportation, and continued after the majority of Acadians had been captured and forcibly exiled.
"Heroes of the Acadian Resistance" tells the story of that resistance and two young Acadians who proved to be leaders in these battles -- Joseph Beausoleil Broussard and Pierre II Surette. Beausoleil, who like many fellow Acadians ended up in Louisiana, is remembered in the Cajun community as a great Acadian hero. Surette lived out his days in Yarmouth County in Nova Scotia, an area which is still home to many of Surette's descendants.
This book offers a fresh perspective on the tragic events of the Acadian expulsion from 18th century Nova Scotia.
- GenresHistory
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2021
This is a historical account of those first settlers in Canada who came from France and turned a hostile land into a thriving farming community. Instead of fighting with the Native Micmac people, they learned and worked with these people, until the British arrived. The land of Nova Scotia changed hands many times, but the Acadian people held fast to the ideals of neutrality. They would swear allegiance to the King, but refused to raise arms against British enemies, their old forefathers, France.
Exasperated, the British overlords took matters in their own hands and expelled over 10,000 people to locations scattered across the globe, separating families and communities.
In this book, the entire of the expulsion and those who sought to combat the horrible and illegal strategy is expressed so that the Acadian, French, and the British sides are shown equally. From this perspective, once can ask if the hostilities helped or hindered the decisions of that day. Excellent historical account.
Exasperated, the British overlords took matters in their own hands and expelled over 10,000 people to locations scattered across the globe, separating families and communities.
In this book, the entire of the expulsion and those who sought to combat the horrible and illegal strategy is expressed so that the Acadian, French, and the British sides are shown equally. From this perspective, once can ask if the hostilities helped or hindered the decisions of that day. Excellent historical account.
January 22, 2023
I read this to connect with my heritage, but honestly found it did not make me proud of those roots at all. I enjoyed the history of the region, but felt that these were anything but heroes.
June 29, 2016
Lots of details on the resistance movement during the Acadian expulsion. I didn't realize it had gone on for so long and how brutal it was. If you want to know about something in history it's necessary to get into the weeds. I'm reading Lies My Teacher Told Me at the same time and coming to the conclusion that I didn't learn much in school regarding history. Factoids are not history, they are just random facts which might be great for trivia games but doesn't carry much meaning or complexity. Loved it for the detail on the Broussards and Mik'maq.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews