The people that came to be called the Cajuns got their start as settlers of what is now known as Nova Scotia. Some came as early as 1603, but most of the people who settled came between 1630 and 1650. They came to North America to escape from famine, epidemics, and anti-Catholic persecution in France, and usuallly served for five years as indentured servants of the New France Company. Government of the region, renamed Acadia, alternated between the British and the French throughout the next century.

Tensions grew between the British and the Acadians, who had no allegiance to any land but Acadia. Their refusal to help the British, or even assimilate, and their rapid population growth made them enemies to the English governors of the region. Deportation of the Acadians began in 1755, but rather than send them back to France the Acadians were spread throughout the colonies. Many of them died in transit:

"For the unfortunate Acadians, years of untold hardship began. Much of it was not due to deliberate cruelty on the part of the British, but rather to poor preparation and plannning for the care of the Acadians during and after the deportation. Disease took a terrible toll. One ship left Nova Scotia with 417 Acadians on board and arrived in South Carolina with only 210 still alive. In Philadelphia, the Acadians were forced to remain on board their ship in the middle of winter. Over two hundred lost their lives to smallpox and other diseases during this time." Cajun Country , pp.10-11

Some of the deportees made their way back to Acadia, some stayed in the British colonies they had settled in (particularly New England), but many others made their way to Louisiana. Although by 1765 Louisiana was governed by the Spanish, it still had a "French" atmosphere. Other Acadian settlers of who had not been deported but went to Louisiana voluntarily after "Le Grand Derangement" began. As many as three thousand settlers reached South Louisana at that time. Fortunately, the Spanish knew that the Acadians were hard workers, so they were generous in helping their new colonists get a start.