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4.3 1604 - 1713
Champlain's success in the region, which came to be called Acadie, led to the fertile tidal marshes surrounding the southeastern and northeastern reaches of the Bay of Fundy being populated by French immigrants who called themselves Acadien. Acadians eventually built small settlements throughout what is today mainland Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as well as Ile-Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island), Ile-Royale (Cape Breton Island), and other shorelines of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec. Acadian settlements had primarily agrarian economies, although there were many early examples of Acadian fishing settlements in southwestern Nova Scotia and in Ile-Royale, as well as along the south and west coasts of Newfoundland, the Gaspe Peninsula, and the present-day Côte-Nord region of Quebec. It should be noted that most Acadian fishing activities were overshadowed by the comparatively enormous seasonal European fishing fleets based out of Newfoundland which took advantage of proximity to the Grand Banks.
The growing English colonies along the American seaboard to the south, and various European wars between England and France during the 17th and 18th centuries saw Acadia, and Acadians at the centre of world-scale geopolitical forces. In 1613, Virginian raiders captured Port Royale and in 1621 Acadia, that being most of present-day Atlantic Canada, Anticosti Island and the Gaspe Peninsula, was ceded to Scotland's Sir William Alexander who renamed it Nova Scotia. By 1632, Acadia was returned from Scotland to France under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Port Royale settlement was moved to the site of nearby present-day Annapolis Royal . More French settlers, primarily from the Vienne, Normandie, and Brittany regions of France, continued to populate the colony of Acadia during the latter part of the 17th and early part of the 18th centuries. Important settlements also began in the Beaubassin region of the present-day Isthmus of Chignecto, and in the St. John River valley, and settlers began to establish communities on Ile-Saint-Jean and Ile-Royale as well.
In 1654, New England raiders attacked Acadian settlements on the Annapolis Basin , starting a period of uncertainty for Acadians throughout the English constitutional crises under Oliver Cromwell, and only being properly resolved under the Treaty of Breda in 1667 when France's claim to the region was reaffirmed. Colonial administration by France throughout the history of Acadia was contemptuous at best. France's priorities were in settling and strengthening its claim on New France and the exploration and settlement of interior North America and the Mississippi River valley.
4.4 1713 - 1745
Further French-English conflict resulted in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 which saw France formally relinquish Acadia to Britain. Confusion over the boundaries between Acadia, New France, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts left Britain in possession of what is present-day mainland Nova Scotia. The early British capital of the Colony of Nova Scotia (sometimes referred to as the 14th Colony) was established at Annapolis Royal, where Fort Anne was constructed.
France still maintained control over much of present-day New Brunswick and northern Maine, Ile-Saint-Jean, and Ile-Royale. In 1719, to further protect strategic interests in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River, France began the 20-year construction of a large fortress at Louisbourg on Ile-Royale. Massachusetts was increasingly concerned over reports of the capabilities of this fortress, and of privateers staging out of its harbour to raid New England fishermen on the Grand Banks. The War of the Austrian Succession saw Britain and France in conflict with each other, and in 1745 several warships and a small contingent of troops were sent from Boston, first to the Nova Scotian fishing port of Canso, and on to Louisbourg where they laid siege to the fortress until the French surrendered and were evacuated.
