University Press of Mississippi 3825 Ridgewood Road Jackson MS 39211-6492 (800) 737-7788 press@ihl.state.ms

1. The following questions cover subjects chronologically as they appear in the book. They are designed to highlight major trends and events in the sweep of Acadian and Cajun history. STUDY QUESTIONS for Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard By Shane K. Bernard University Press of Mississippi 3825 Ridgewood Road Jackson MS 39211-6492 (800) 737-7788 press@ihl.state.ms.us Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

2. 1. What events convinced the first Acadians to leave France for Acadia? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The first Acadians left France for Acadia because of a combination of disastrous events, including religious wars, drought, famine, epidemics (disease), lawlessness (crime), and the burden of high taxes. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

3. 2. What characteristics did many of the early Acadian colonists have in common? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. Most of the first Acadian colonists came from the Centre-Ouest region of France and shared a peasant background, the French language, and the Roman Catholic religion. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

4. 3. What was the significance of the Micmac Indian tribe to the early Acadian colonists? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The Micmac Indians taught the Acadians frontier survival skills, such as how to hunt wild game and how to grow local crops. The Micmac also intermarried with the Acadians. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

5. 4. What were the Acadian colony’s chief exports? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. Acadia’s chief exports were fish, especially cod, and fur, which colonists sent back to France or used for trading with other North American colonies, including the British colonies of New England. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

6. 5. Why did the British military repeatedly seize Acadia from France? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The British military regarded the Acadian peninsula as crucial to protecting British colonies in North America from attack by the French military and its Indian allies. It also wanted to control Acadia’s natural resources, such as its fishing and fur industries, and particularly its rich farmland. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

7. 6. Why did the Acadians refuse to take an unconditional oath of allegiance to the British crown? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The Acadians refused to take an unconditional oath of allegiance because it would require them to fight for the British crown during wartime. They feared such a promise would invite attacks on them by the French military and its Indian allies. As a result, the Acadians swore and repeatedly offered to reaffirm a conditional oath of allegiance, through which they vowed to be loyal British subjects, but to remain neutral during wartime, taking up arms for neither the British nor the French.

8. 7. During the expulsion, what steps did the British take to prevent the Acadians from returning to their homeland? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The British burned the Acadians’ farms, homes, mills, and churches to discourage the exiles from returning to Nova Scotia. They also confiscated the Acadians’ farmland and gave it to English-speaking Protestant settlers loyal to the British crown. Finally, the British scattered the Acadian exiles in small groups throughout many distant lands, hoping that the Acadians would be swallowed up by other, larger groups of peoples and cease to exist as an ethnic group.

9. 8. Why did the Spanish government want the Acadian exiles to settle in Louisiana? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The Spanish government wanted the Acadian exiles to settle in Louisiana to prevent English colonists from intruding on and settling in Spanish lands, which consisted of what would become the vast Louisiana Purchase territory.

10. 9. What was the significance of the Dauterive Compact? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. Although never put into effect, the Dauterive Compact’s promise of land and cattle attracted early Acadian exiles to south Louisiana’s Attakapas region. This drew other Acadian exiles to the region, where they and their descendants soon became the dominant ethnic group. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

11. 10. How did the American Civil War and Reconstruction transform the Acadians into a new ethnic groups called the Cajuns? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The Civil War and Reconstruction destroyed south Louisiana’s economy, reducing formerly prosperous ethnic groups, such as the French, Spanish, and Germans, to the same poverty level as the mass of ordinary Acadian subsistence farmers. Once this happened, these various groups began to intermarry in large numbers, and the mixing of Acadian, French, Spanish, and German influences (among others) created the new ethnic group known today as the Cajuns. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

12. 11. What caused the decline of the French language among twentieth-century Cajuns? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. In 1916 the Louisiana state board of education declared English the only language of public school classrooms. In 1921 a new Louisiana state constitution confirmed this English-only policy. As a result, educators punished generations of Cajun children for speaking French on school grounds. This not only discouraged Cajun children from speaking French among themselves, but years later from teaching it to their own children. Combined with the onslaught of mainstream American culture — for example, the coming of television — the practice of punishing Cajun children for speaking French caused the language’s dramatic decline by the late twentieth century. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

13. 12. What effect did America’s entry into World War II have on the Cajun people? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. World War II drew the Cajuns into mainstream American history for the first time. Thousands of Cajuns served in the military, which introduced them to a world far beyond their south Louisiana homeland. Meanwhile, families and friends back on the home front worked in defense plants or volunteered as civil defense wardens, auxiliary firemen and policeman, plane spotters, and nurses. Proud of their wartime service, Cajuns emerged from World War II a heavily Americanized people. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

14. 13. What impact did the aftermath of World War II have on the Cajun people? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. Almost as soon as World War II ended, the “Cold War” — a global struggle between democracy and communism — erupted between the U.S., the Soviet Union, and their respective allies. Like patriotic Americans elsewhere, Cajuns joined the struggle, fighting Communist foes, for example, in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Furthermore, Cajuns participated in America’s postwar prosperity, magnified in south Louisiana by the booming oil industry. Armed for the first time with disposable incomes, Cajuns purchased automobiles, refrigerators, air conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, and televisions. In this way, the Cajuns demonstrated that they, like other Americans, had bought into the “American Dream.” Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

15. 14. What was the purpose of CODOFIL and what were some of its achievements? Click on the photo below to see the answer. Then hit “enter” or click on your mouse to see the next question. The purpose of CODOFIL (the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana) was, according to the legislation that created the group, “To do any and all things necessary to accomplish the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language as found in the State of Louisiana for the cultural, economic, and tourist[ic] benefit of the State.” CODOFIL succeeded in expanding French education in public schools. It also strengthened cultural and economic ties with France, Belgium, Quebec, and other French-speaking regions. It promoted south Louisiana as an intriguing tourist destination, and it generated positive media attention for the region. Finally, CODOFIL served as an effective Cajun watchdog group, speaking out against perceived ethic slurs and insults against the Cajun people. These achievements helped to renew the French language in Louisiana and to increase Cajun pride and empowerment. Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard

16. . Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History by Shane K. Bernard By Shane K. Bernard University Press of Mississippi 3825 Ridgewood Road Jackson MS 39211-6492 (800) 737-7788 press@ihl.state.ms.us Slide photos are public domain photographs or sketches. Oil rig photo courtesy of Jude Dubois.