Ben Franklin's world is a production of the

O'Mohandro Institute. Hello and welcome to episode 232 of Ben Franklin's World.

The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our early American past have shaped the present day world we live in.

And I'm your host, Liz Kovart.

Before the English settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, or the Dutch settled near Albany, New York in 1615, a group of French-speaking

Catholic settlers established a settlement at Port Royal Acadia in 1605, an area that we now know as Annapolis, Royal, Nova Scotia.

Now, over time, the Acadian population grew and extended its settlements and villages

along the Bay of Fundy, as well as into other New France maritime provinces.

Provinces we know today is New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

And by 1755, nearly 15,000 Acadians lived in Acadia.

Christopher Hodson, an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University,

and the author of the Acadian diaspora,

joins us to investigate the lives of these early North American

colonists and how the British government came to displace them from Acadia in 1755.

Now during our investigation Chris reveals who the Acadians were and how they came to settle in North America

details about how the Acadians lived farmed and traded while in Acadia and why the British government forcibly relocated the Acadians after 1755

and information about some of the places the displaced Acadians landed.

But first, we have two meetups coming up. First, I'll meet you in Albany,

New York on April 25th. In Albany, I'll be giving a free public talk at the New York State Cultural

Education Center called

a visit to Ben Franklin's world. Now before the talk there will be a reception

where we can meet up and chat a bit before the talk. So if you're in Albany

...