From swords to ploughshares : the context for Highland soldier settlement in Nova Scotia, 1710-1775

Abstract

This dissertation examines the circumstances whereby Scottish Highland soldiers became settlers in Nova Scotia prior to the American Revolution. It details the process, commencing in the late seventeenth century, of the gradual integration of Highland regiments into the regular British Army and the deployment of these units to North America. It also demonstrates how the garrisoning of these soldiers in Nova Scotia was designed to both contain the French and deal with their allies, the indigenous Mi'kmaq. It argues that the policy to allow discharged soldiers to settle in the colony was a product of these circumstances. While it has proven difficult to locate individual soldiers, by either rank or nationality, this thesis has uncovered enough evidence to demonstrate that Highland soldiers were indeed settled in the colony prior to 1775 and that this aspect of Nova Scotian settlement history is worthy of further investigation.