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St. John Valley (Maine)
TIMES
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St. John Valley, Main--Upoon his return from a recent speaking tour of the Maritime Provinces, Professor Roger Paradis of the University of Maine at Fort Kent received an e-mail from Attorney Warren Perrin of Lafayette, Louisiana.
The letter is dated April 18, 2001, and it is an invitation for Paradis to join him for his presentation to the Québec Bar Association meeting in Montréal.
At this meeting, Perrin will read his petition requesting an apology from the 'British Government and Crown' for the deportation of the Acadians.
Until recently, Perrin was of the opinion that Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia was responsible for the deportation.
Based on Paradis' recent research, Perrin wrote that 'he will announce a change in my previous position', and will say that 'Lawrence was acting pursuant to direct orders from London.'
Perrin now believes that Paradis' research is 'conclusive'.
Paradis published his research in the preface of his recent book, 'Papiers/Papers of Prudent Mercure'.
'The direct evidence is compelling', said Paradis.
First, there is the Winslow journal in which Winslow informs the Acadians on September 5, 1755, that the deportation is the King`s final resolution.
He also cites the annotation remark of Governor Vaudreuil of Canada after reading the private papers of General Braddock, that plans were in progress to 'enslave the Acadians.' The Braddock correspondence from which Vaudreuil made this statement was written in 1754, almost a year before the deportation.
There is also a letter from the Board of Trade to Lawrence in 1754, that they cannot come to a resolution on the proposed deportation until they have brought the whole matter before the King and 'received his word on it'.
Paradis notes that Governor Lawrence wanted double receipts for the expenses of the deportation. The reason was that he had to send an account 'to the Lord the Treasury' for reimbursement. Nova Scotia was the poorest of the King`s fourteen colonies in America. 'I followed the money', said Paradis, 'and it took me to the Mother Metropolis.' 'I knew that only John Bull had the deep pockets to pay for the deportation.' In 1758, Lawrence submitted his expenditures to London for a complete reimbursement.
Then there are the articles of capitulation in 1760.
Governor Vaudreuil proposed three conditions to General Jeffrey Amherst: That the Canadiens would not be deported; that the French would not be deported; that the deportation of the Acadiens would cease. 'Amherst acceded to the first two articles', said Paradis, 'but on the article to stop the deportation, Amherst said no.'
'The circumstantial evidence is equally damning,' writes Paradis.
There is a letter from the Home Government calling on Lawrence to plan the deportation carefully to avoid a general insurrection of the people. If only a deportation of the Chignecto Acadians was intended, it would not likely have produced a general insurrection.
The Secretary of State also cautioned Lawrence against sending the Acadians to Canada, as that would have reinforced the enemy. The only alternative was deportation to the other thirteen American colonies.
'The deportation plan, said Paradis 'was written and partly implemented weeks before the deportation when Acadian muskets and boats were confiscated.'
Then there is the nagging question of why Winslow`s troops were not discharged after the fall of Beauséjour. 'They were kept under arms for eleven weeks before the deportation was announced at great expense to the colony and with nothing to do but get into mischief. Even Winslow was baffled by this until September 2 when Monkton apprised him of plans of the government.'
Paradis writes that in January 1755, Monkton was sent to Boston by Lawrence with a letter of 'unlimited credit' on the colony of Nova Scotia. Paradis observed, however, that the colony of Nova Scotia had no revenue of its own. 'There was no assembly in Nova Scotia', he said, 'because the Acadians were Catholics. No assembly, no taxes, no revenue. Even the governor`s salary had to be paid by Parliament."
'If Lawrence and his council had acted alone', said Paradis, 'they would have been guilty of usurping the royal perogative. The crime of sedition was punishable by death. Notwithstanding, Lawrence and his associates were all promoted within days, weeks or a few months of the deportation.'
The unqualified oath that the King demanded of the Acadians was a ploy to justify their expropriation and deportation. Paradis notes that the Acadians of Pobomcoup (Pubnico) took an unqualified oath in 1730, and that they were nonethless deported with the order.
Paradis claims that the Board of Trade always considered the deportation as an option when the time was 'expedient'.
He is the first historian to accuse King George II and the House Government directly for the ethnic cleansing of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. The 'plan' was to settle them in small groups in the thirteen colonies so that they would disappear as a people. 'The word for that', says Paradis, 'is genocide.'
Paradis' research may be further consulted in his book, 'Papiers/Papers of Prudent Mercure'. He reports that he has unearthed still more evidence , which he will publish in an upcoming book.
When asked what he thought of Perrin`s conversion, Paradis answered, 'C'est la victoire. La vérité finie toujours par se manifester.' (Its a victory. The truth always wins out in the end.')
Asked about reparations for damages, Paradis said that he would 'like to see a scholarship fund created for Acadian youth to attend the French university of their choice anywhere in the world.'
As for the hundreds of families who perished at sea or from disease, 'that must forever remain as an unpaid debt to remind perfidious governments that crimes against humanity do not pay.'
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