The historical term for the forcible removal of
French settlers from
New France (now Eastern
Canada) in the 1750s. The
Acadians were deported, and their lands were given to
English loyalists.
Longfellow's poem
Evangeline describes this sad time. Many Acadians resettled in the
French territory of
Louisiana, where subsquently, the term Acadian was anglicized to
Cajun.