The Canadian Experience: Expulsion (The Story of Acadia)

On the eve of a war that will engulf the world, the British government agrees with a plan to extinguish a people. In 1755, English colonial officials forcibly expel close to 10,000 French-speaking Acadians from their lands in Nova Scotia, lands that have been in Acadian hands for almost 150 years. What follows is the epic story of a group of people played as pawns in a struggle between two empires. It is a saga of death and dislocation that reverberates to this day - an event unparalleled in the history of the colonizing on North America. Drawing from the highly acclaimed series, Canada: A People's History, this one-hour documentary examines the events leading up to the brutal expulsion. Through dramatic re-enactments and interviews with Acadian descendants, it brings to life a human tragedy, one that changed the course of history and established a legacy and culture that lives on to this day.