The French in America (In America Series)

Rating:
Summary: The usually forgotten story of French immigration to the US
Review: I think it is relatively safe to say that relations between the United States and France are at their lowest point in the past 250 years. Right now when it comes to ethnic humor the French are at the top of the list (e.g., Chris Rock finds it ironic that the French now consider Americans to be arrogant). So it is not surprising that in telling the story of French immigration to the United States, "The French in America" focuses primarily on what happened before the 20th century, or, to put it in perspective, before France gave the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. in 1884.

As this book in the In America Series reminds us, the French started coming to the New World well before the original thirteen colonies formed the United States. The first chapter looks at the Trailblazers and Traders who had a great impact despite their small numbers. Virginia Brainard Kunz relates how the French explored America's heartland and looked for the Northwest Passage, but eventually lost New France to the English. The second chapter tells of the immigration of the Huguenots, who fled religious conflict in France and who became patriots and political leaders in America. The third chapter covers the strongest period of U.S.-French relations as France aided the American revolutionaries and the French-American and French-Canadian communities that were established. The final chapter details Contributions to American Life by the French, looking not so much as individuals as in other volumes, but in terms of regional influences in Louisiana, New England, and the Midwest/Great Lakes states.

Young readers will find this look at the "oldest ally" of the United States to be even more interesting given the discord that exists between the two nations today. "The French in America" is illustrated with black & white photographs, both historic and contemporary, and while it does cover some early American history that young riders will find in their history textbook, it does look at it a bit more from the French perspective. This is the first book on French immigration to the United States that I have come across in the three juvenile series that I have been reading as I find them the past year or so, and it certainly provides a solid introduction to the topic, even if the reader is not of French descent.

Rating:
Summary: The usually forgotten story of French immigration to the US
Review: I think it is relatively safe to say that relations between the United States and France are at their lowest point in the past 250 years. Right now when it comes to ethnic humor the French are at the top of the list (e.g., Chris Rock finds it ironic that the French now consider Americans to be arrogant). So it is not surprising that in telling the story of French immigration to the United States, "The French in America" focuses primarily on what happened before the 20th century, or, to put it in perspective, before France gave the Statue of Liberty to the U.S. in 1884.

As this book in the In America Series reminds us, the French started coming to the New World well before the original thirteen colonies formed the United States. The first chapter looks at the Trailblazers and Traders who had a great impact despite their small numbers. Virginia Brainard Kunz relates how the French explored America's heartland and looked for the Northwest Passage, but eventually lost New France to the English. The second chapter tells of the immigration of the Huguenots, who fled religious conflict in France and who became patriots and political leaders in America. The third chapter covers the strongest period of U.S.-French relations as France aided the American revolutionaries and the French-American and French-Canadian communities that were established. The final chapter details Contributions to American Life by the French, looking not so much as individuals as in other volumes, but in terms of regional influences in Louisiana, New England, and the Midwest/Great Lakes states.

Young readers will find this look at the "oldest ally" of the United States to be even more interesting given the discord that exists between the two nations today. "The French in America" is illustrated with black & white photographs, both historic and contemporary, and while it does cover some early American history that young riders will find in their history textbook, it does look at it a bit more from the French perspective. This is the first book on French immigration to the United States that I have come across in the three juvenile series that I have been reading as I find them the past year or so, and it certainly provides a solid introduction to the topic, even if the reader is not of French descent.