In 1754, Charles Lawrence was appointed lieutenant-governor. At this time, there were 10,000 Acadians living in Nova Scotia. Lawrence did not trust them and thought there were too many of them. He feared they would support the French in battle. The Acadians were again asked to sign an oath of allegiance to the British. They refused because they did not want to fight against the French. As a result, the British began to plan the expulsion of the Acadians. The Acadians did not believe that the British would go ahead with it, since the threat of an expulsion had been there since 1713. Sadly, they were wrong.

The Expulsion of the Acadians

On September 5, 1755,411 Acadian boys and men were gathered at the church in Grand Pré. To their disbelief, they were told by Colonel Winslow that they were going to be deported and their land was going to be given to the Crown. Some of these men never saw their families again.

Twenty of the men were allowed to see their families and tell them what was happening. Winslow wanted the boys to leave first, but many refused to leave without their fathers. Because of this, they were led to the ships by soldiers at bayonet-point. Mothers and sisters watched, heart-broken.