OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval

Date: July 25, 2005
Location: Washingtion DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs


A DAY OF COMMEMORATION OF THE GREAT UPHEAVAL -- (House of Representatives - July 25, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, the Great Upheaval, also known as the Great Expulsion, was the eviction of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia between 1755 and 1763.

In 1755, colonial authorities began a process of uprooting and deporting 10,000 men, women, and children who had settled on British land. British Lieutenant Governor Charles Lawrence and Massachusetts Governor William Shirley began by seizing colonists' firearms to prevent them from using force to resist.

Then they took a large number of men hostage in order to guarantee the docility of their families at the at the time of deportation. Approximately three-quarters of the total Acadian population was deported. Some were sent to England, others to France, and still others to the area that was to become Louisiana.

During the campaign against the Acadians, property was plundered, communities were torched, lands were seized, and thousands of Acadian lives were claimed.

Over several generations after the Great Upheaval, the presence of Acadians in Louisiana grew, and their descendants helped to form the nucleus of Louisiana's Cajun life and culture.

On December 9, 2003, Queen Elizabeth II issued a proclamation that acknowledged the suffering experienced by the Acadian people during the Great Upheaval and designated July 28 as ``A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval.''

H. Res. 294 supports the goals of the proclamation. It also points out how our country has grown and developed and how many of the prejudices that at one time people held have begun, in a serious way, to have diminished. Anybody who has ever visited Louisiana or knows anything about Louisiana knows that the Acadian population is an integral part of the life, the culture, and of the development in the State of Louisiana. So I am proud to support this resolution. I urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov

arrow_upward