re: Cajuns are keen to preserve their identity.

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My cousin moved to France to do that. I think he got us back to the 1500s.
Ended up finding one of my ancestors was hung for piracy in the 1700s.

He said they told him the French he speaks sounds like he's from the 1700s countryside.

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This isn't unusual as languages become isolated and evolve independently. It has been stated that the American English accent is much closer to the English spoken during the revolution. That it was British english that has evolved. Now, Americans have also had lots of outside influences of almost every culture shift and change things.

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The “how” – British accent vs American accent
In all reality, the standard British accent was the one that changed significantly in the last two centuries while the American accent stayed more or less the same. During the American Revolution, the English language started to change in Britain.

A new wealthy sector emerged during the industrial revolution. These citizens were born with a low birth rank and they were desperately seeking for a way to distinguish themselves from others. They wanted to show by speech that they were much more than simple middle class or lower middle class citizens. They started to use the prestigious non-rhotic** pronunciation in order to demonstrate their new upper-class status.

** non-rhotic pronunciation: Traditional English was largely “rhotic.” Rhotic speakers pronounce the “R” sound in such words as “hard” and “winter,” while non-rhotic speakers do not.

Today’s accents
This manner of speech developed and later on become standardised by the newly emerged intellectuals (doctors, teachers, etc.) while the American continent’s English stayed more or less the same. The US English is still rhotic apart from New York and Boston (where it has become non-rhotic over time). They become non-rhotic due to the influence of British elite after the American Revolution.

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