ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Military history of the Acadians

Okay kiddo, let me tell you about the military history of the Acadians. Acadians were people who lived in a place called Acadia, which is now known as Nova Scotia in Canada. They were French-speaking people who had been living in Acadia for a really long time, maybe even before your great-great-great grandparents were born!

Now, in the 1700s, there was a war between the French and the British. The Acadians were living in Acadia, which was under the control of the French at the time, but the British wanted to take control of the area. This war is called the Seven Years' War, and it was a very big and important war.

During the war, the British thought that the Acadians might help the French, so they did something really mean – they forced the Acadians to leave their homes and farms and go somewhere else. This is called "deportation" and it means taking people away from their homes and sending them somewhere else. The British thought that this would make it harder for the French to get help from the Acadians.

The Acadians didn't want to leave their homes, but they had to go anyways. They were taken from their villages and put onto boats to be taken to different places far away from their homes. They didn't have much food or water on the boats, and some of them got sick or died. It was a really sad time for the Acadians.

Some Acadians managed to escape from the boats and hide in the forests. They didn't want to leave their homes and farms, so they stayed in Acadia and fought against the British. They were called the "Acadian resistance." They didn't have as many soldiers or weapons as the British, but they tried their best to defend their homes and families.

Eventually, the war ended and the British took control of Acadia. Some Acadians were allowed to go back to their homes, but others had to go to other places like Louisiana in the United States. It took many years for the Acadians to be able to go back to Acadia and live there again. It was a really hard time for them, but they never forgot their homes and families in Acadia.

So, that's the military history of the Acadians, from the time of the Seven Years' War to the deportation and the resistance. It was a sad and difficult time for them, but they never gave up on their homes and families.