French Americans

French Americans or Franco-Americans are people in the United States who have French or Québécois heritage, ethnicity, or ancestry. This includes French-Canadian Americans, who have their own unique experiences and identity.

The state with the most people who say they have French ancestry is Maine. California has the largest number of people with French ancestry. Many U.S. cities have large French American populations.

Franco-Americans are less visible than some other ethnic groups of similar size. This is because they often feel more connected to regional identities such as French Canadian, Acadian, Brayon, or Louisiana French. Even so, French heritage has influenced many American place names.

History

Main articles: New France and History of the Franco-Americans

Some Franco-Americans arrived before the United States began, settling in places like the Midwest, Louisiana, or Northern New England. Many cities and geographic features in these areas still carry names given by early Franco-American inhabitants. Twenty-three of the Contiguous United States were partly colonized by French pioneers or French Canadians, including places like Iowa (Des Moines), Missouri (St. Louis), Kentucky (Louisville), and Michigan (Detroit).

A big part of Franco-American history is the Quebec diaspora from the 1840s to the 1930s. During this time, nearly one million French Canadians moved to the United States, mainly to New England mill towns. They were escaping economic hard times in Québec and looking for jobs in American manufacturing. French Canadians had very high birth rates, which helped their population grow even though not many people came from France. These immigrants mostly settled in Québec and Acadia, but some moved to Ontario and Manitoba. Many of the first French-Canadian migrants worked in New England’s lumber industry and, to a lesser extent, in the mining industry around the Great Lakes. This first group of seasonal workers was later followed by more permanent settlers who worked in mills.

Louisiana

Louisiana Creole people are descendants of the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent, but also including people of mixed-race heritage. Louisiana Creoles share common European roots and cultural ties, like using the French language and practicing Catholicism. Those of mixed race also sometimes have African and Native American ancestry. As a group, they worked hard to get education, skills, businesses, and property. They were mostly Catholic, spoke Colonial French (and sometimes Louisiana Creole), and kept many French customs, mixed with their other ancestries and Louisiana culture.

The Cajuns of Louisiana have a special heritage. They see themselves as different from Louisiana Creoles, even though some records say the Acadians’ descendants are also called Créoles. Their ancestors lived in Acadia, in what is now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and part of Maine, during the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1755, after the British took over French forts in the area, they demanded the Acadians swear loyalty to the British Crown. Most refused, so the British deported them to the Thirteen Colonies in the south. This event is known as the expulsion of the Acadians. Over the next generation, about four thousand Acadians traveled to Louisiana and started a new life. The name Cajun comes from the word Acadian. Many still live in what is called Cajun Country, where much of their colonial culture remains. French Louisiana, sold by Napoleon in 1803, covered parts of fifteen current U.S. states and had French and Canadian colonists spread across it, though they were most numerous in the southern part.

During the War of 1812, Louisiana residents of French origin fought on the American side in the Battle of New Orleans. Jean Lafitte and his group were later honored by US General Andrew Jackson for helping defend New Orleans.

In Louisiana today, more than 15 percent of the population in Cajun Country reported speaking French at home in the 2000 United States census.

Another group of immigrants to Louisiana came from Saint-Domingue (now Haiti); many Saint Dominicans fled during this time, and half of them eventually settled in New Orleans.

Biloxi in Mississippi, and Mobile in Alabama, still show French American heritage since they were founded by the Canadian Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville.

The Houma Tribe in Louisiana still speaks the same French they learned 300 years ago.

Colonial era

Main article: Huguenot § North America

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, a few thousand Huguenots—Calvinist refugees fleeing religious persecution after the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau by Louis XIV of the Kingdom of France—arrived in the Dutch colony of New Netherland and its capital city, New Netherland. Some were among the first Europeans to settle on Staten Island. In 1674, with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster to end the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674), the Netherlands gave the colony to Great Britain, who renamed it New York, and its capital to New York City, after Prince James, Duke of York, the brother of King Charles II of England.

For nearly a century, French settlers kept a distinct French Protestant identity that kept them separate from American society, but by the time of the American Revolution, they had generally married into and joined the larger Presbyterian community. In 1700, they made up 13% of the white population of the Province of Carolina, and 5% of the white population of the Province of New York. The largest group settled in South Carolina, where the French were 4% of the white population in 1790. With help from the international Huguenot community, many also moved to Virginia. In the north, Paul Revere of Boston was a well-known figure.

A new wave of French-heritage people arrived at the very end of the colonial era. After the failed invasion of Quebec in 1775-1776, hundreds of French-Canadian men who had joined the Continental Army stayed in the ranks. Under colonels James Livingston and Moses Hazen, they fought in many battles of the Revolutionary War. After the war, New York State created the Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugee Tract stretching westward from Lake Champlain. Though many of the veterans sold their land claims in this large area, some stayed, and the settlement continued. From early colonizing efforts in the 1780s to the time of Quebec’s “great hemorrhage,” the French-Canadian presence in Clinton County in northeastern New York was strong.

Midwest

From the beginning of the 17th century, French Canadians explored and traveled to the region with coureur de bois and explorers like Jean Nicolet, Robert de LaSalle, Jacques Marquette, Nicholas Perrot, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Pierre Dugué de Boisbriant, Lucien Galtier, Pierre Laclède, René Auguste Chouteau, Julien Dubuque, Pierre de La Vérendrye, and Pierre Parrant.

The French Canadians set up many villages along waterways, including Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; La Baye, Wisconsin; Cahokia, Illinois; Kaskaskia, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan; Saint Ignace, Michigan; Vincennes, Indiana; St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; and Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. They also built many forts in the area, such as Fort de Chartres, Fort Crevecoeur, Fort Saint Louis, Fort Ouiatenon, Fort Miami (Michigan), Fort Miami (Indiana), Fort Saint Joseph, Fort La Baye, Fort de Buade, Fort Saint Antoine, Fort Crevecoeur, Fort Trempealeau, Fort Beauharnois, Fort Orleans, Fort St. Charles, Fort Kaministiquia, Fort Michilimackinac, Fort Rouillé, Fort Niagara, Fort Le Boeuf, Fort Venango, and Fort Duquesne. The forts were used by soldiers and fur trappers who had long trade networks reaching back through the Great Lakes to Montreal. Large agricultural settlements were established in the Pays des Illinois.

The region was given up by France to the British in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris. Three years of war by the Natives, called Pontiac's War, followed. It became part of the Province of Quebec in 1774 and was taken by the United States during the Revolution.

New England and New York State

Further information: New England French, Quebec diaspora, and French-Canadian Americans

In the nineteenth century, many people of French heritage came from Quebec and New Brunswick to work in manufacturing cities, especially textile centers, in New England and New York State. They lived together in areas known as "Little Canadas." During the same period, French speakers from Quebec became a large part of the workers in other regions and industries, like the saw mills and logging camps in the Adirondack Mountains and their foothills. They became a bigger and bigger part of the region's population; by the mid-twentieth century, Franco-Americans made up 30 percent of Maine's population.

Factories could employ whole families, including children. Some French-Canadian women saw New England as a place where they could find new opportunities and create different economic paths for themselves, away from the expectations of their farm families in Canada. By the early twentieth century, some women saw moving temporarily to the United States as a time for self-discovery and independence. Most women moved permanently to the United States, using inexpensive railroads to visit Quebec from time to time. When these women married, they had fewer children and with longer gaps between them than women in Canada. Some women never married, and stories suggest that being independent and economically strong were important reasons for choosing work over marriage and motherhood. These women followed traditional gender roles to keep their 'Canadienne' cultural identity, but they also changed these roles in ways that gave them more independence as wives and mothers. Women also helped shape the Franco-American experience as members of religious groups. The first hospital in Lewiston, Maine, opened in 1889 when the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the 'Grey Nuns,' started the Asylum of Our Lady of Lourdes. This hospital was important for the Grey Nuns' mission to provide social services for Lewiston's mostly French-Canadian mill workers. The Grey Nuns had a hard time starting their hospital because of limited money, language problems, and opposition from existing medical groups.

The French-Canadian community in the Northeast tried to keep its cultural traditions alive. This happened within the Catholic Church, although they had some difficulties. According to Raymond Potvin, the mostly Irish church leaders were slow to recognize the need for French-language churches; several bishops even suggested assimilation and only English-language parish schools. By the twentieth century, some parish schools for French-speaking students opened, but they gradually closed later in the century, and many French-speaking people left the Church. At the same time, the number of priests to lead these churches got smaller. Like Church groups, Franco-American newspapers such as Le Messager and La Justice supported the idea of survivance—the effort to keep traditional culture alive through faith and language. Because of the commercial and industrial economy in these areas, by 1913, the French and French-Canadian populations in New York City, Fall River (Massachusetts), and Manchester (New Hampshire) were the largest in the country. Out of the 20 largest Franco-American populations in the United States, only four cities were outside of New York and New England, with New Orleans ranking 18th largest in the nation. Because of this, many French institutions were started in New England, including the Société Historique Franco-américaine in Boston and the Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d’Amérique of Woonsocket, the largest French-Catholic cultural and mutual benefit group in the United States in the early twentieth century. Immigration from Quebec slowed down in the 1920s.

During the decline of the textile industry from the 1920s to the 1950s, the French community moved up socially and culturally. This pattern of moving up continued during the 1970s and 1980s as many Catholic groups started using English and children went to public schools; some parish schools closed in the 1970s. In recent years, people have started to identify less with the French language.

Franco-American culture keeps changing in the twenty-first century. Well-known genealogical groups and public history places still work to share the Franco-American story. Their work is sometimes supported by the commercial and cultural interests of Quebec and state governments in the Northeast. New groups and events have helped this effort. Some people have compared recent changes to how young people in the 1970s adopted and modernized “Franco” culture. For some, a “renaissance” or “revival” is happening.

The New Hampshire PoutineFest, started by Timothy Beaulieu, uses a famous Quebec dish to get more people interested in the culture. The French-Canadian Legacy podcast gives current views on French-Canadian experiences on both sides of the border. Through work with the Quebec Government Office and local groups, the podcast team made a GeoTour about Franco-American life in major New England cities. Events to remember people have recently included pioneer suffragist Camille-Lessard Bissonnette. Abby Paige has brought the community's history and its complex stories to the stage. The culture and its appearances in Louisiana, the Midwest, and the Northeast are now part of a course at Harvard University. Francophonie Month (March) and St. John the Baptist Day (June 24) are times for celebration and more visibility. At the same time, some community members are asking to think again about Franco-Americans’ role in talks about race and class.

Well-known American culture figures who kept strong ties to their French roots include musician Rudy Vallée, who grew up in Westbrook, Maine, the child of a French-Canadian father and an Irish mother, and writer Jack Kerouac, who grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. Kerouac was the child of two French-Canadian immigrants and wrote in both English and French. Franco-American political leaders from New England include U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R, New Hampshire), Governor Paul LePage of Maine, and Presidential adviser Jon Favreau, who was born and raised in Massachusetts.

California

During the early years of the California Gold Rush, over 20,000 migrants from France arrived in the state. By the mid-1850s, San Francisco had become the center of the French population on the West Coast, with over 30,000 people of French descent, more than any other group except Germans. During this time, the city's French Quarter was created, along with important businesses and institutions like the Boudin Bakery and French Hospital. Between 1921 and 1931, when the U.S. needed lots of workers, about 2 million French immigrants came to America for jobs. This had a big effect on both the American and French economies. As the later part of the 19th century went on, more French immigrants arrived in San Francisco, and French business people played big roles in shaping the city's food, fashion, and financial areas. This earned the city the nickname "Paris of the Pacific".

French immigrants and their descendants also moved to what is now the North Bay, where they helped develop Wine Country and the modern California wine industry. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, French architecture (especially Beaux-Arts) was widely used in rebuilding the city, as seen in its City Hall, Legion of Honor Museum, and downtown news kiosks.

Because of historic ties and cultural exchanges between France and the area, most French multinational businesses have set up their U.S. offices or branches in the San Francisco Bay Area since the rise of Silicon Valley and the Dot-com bubble.

Civil War

Franco-Americans were one of the most important Catholic groups in the Union army during the American Civil War. The exact number is unclear, but historians think between 20,000 and 40,000 Franco-Americans served in this war. In addition to those born in the United States, many who served in the Union forces came from Canada or had lived there for several years. Canada's national anthem was written by one such soldier named Calixa Lavallée, who wrote this anthem while he served for the Union, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard was a well-known Louisiana Creole.

Politics

Walker (1962) looks at voting in U.S. presidential elections from 1880 to 1960, using election results from 30 Franco-American communities in New England, along with sample survey data for the 1948–60 elections. According to Walker, from 1896 to 1924, Franco-Americans usually supported the Republican Party because of its conservatism, focus on order, and support for tariffs to protect textile workers from foreign competition. In 1928, with Catholic Al Smith as the Democratic candidate, Franco-Americans switched to the Democratic Party and stayed there for six presidential elections. They were part of the New Deal Coalition. Unlike Irish and German Catholics, very few Franco-Americans left the Democratic Party because of foreign policy and war issues in the 1940 and 1944 campaigns. In 1952 many Franco-Americans moved away from the Democrats but returned strongly in 1960.

More recent work has added to Walker's findings. Ronald Petrin has studied the rise of Republican support among Massachusetts Franco-Americans in the 1890s; the long economic downturn during President Grover Cleveland's time and Franco-Irish religious arguments were likely reasons for more support for the GOP. Petrin notes different political actions in large cities and smaller towns. Madeleine Giguère has confirmed the later shift to the Democratic Party through her research on Lewiston's presidential voting during the twentieth century. In the most detailed study of Franco-American political choices, Patrick Lacroix finds different patterns of political involvement across New England and New York State. In southern New England, Republicans actively sought the "Franco" vote and even nominated Aram J. Pothier, a native of Quebec, who won his race for the governorship of Rhode Island and served seven terms in that office. In northern New England, Franco-Americans faced being left out of power and more often turned to the Democrats. During the 1920s, this regional difference disappeared. Because of anti-union and anti-labor policies by Republican state governments, an increasingly unionized Franco-American working class began supporting the Democrats across the region. Elite "Francos" still preferred the GOP.

Since most Franco-Americans’ ancestors left France before the French Revolution, they usually prefer the fleur-de-lis to the modern French tricolor.

Franco-American Day

In 2008, the state of Connecticut chose June 24 as Franco-American Day to honor French Canadians and their culture. Since then, other states like Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have also celebrated Franco-American Day on this day.

Demographics

Colonial French American population in 1790

The U.S. government and scholars tried to guess how many Americans had French roots in 1790. They looked at family names from the first U.S. census. They found that about 2.3% of people in the U.S. in 1790 were from France. Most lived in areas that were once part of New France, west of British America. In the Thirteen Colonies, French Americans were most common in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Georgia.

2000 Census

In 2000, about 5.3% of people in the U.S. had French or French Canadian ancestry. By 2013, around 129,520 people in the U.S. were born in France. French Americans made up about 10% or more of the population in seven states, six in New England and one in Louisiana. California has the most French Americans, followed by Louisiana, but Maine has the highest percentage at 25%.

Historical immigration

Religion

Most French Americans have a Roman Catholic background. This includes many French Canadians and Cajuns. Smaller groups of Protestants came later. The earliest were the Huguenots from France during colonial times. Many settled in cities like Boston, Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were some disagreements between English-speaking Irish Catholics and French-Canadian immigrants. This was mostly about teaching the French language in schools. These disagreements happened in places like Fall River, Danielson, and North Brookfield.

Education

Further information: Category:French international schools in the United States

There are many French international schools in the United States. These schools work with the Agency for French Education Abroad to help students learn in French and experience French culture.

French language in the United States

Further information: French language in the United States

French is a popular language to learn in American schools, second only to Spanish. Many people in the United States learn French.

According to the U.S. Census in 2000, French is the third most spoken language in the country, after English and Spanish. Many Haitian immigrants in Florida and New York City speak French. In the past, French was spoken in many villages in the Midwest and New England by people from Quebec. French newspapers were found in cities like New Orleans and some New England cities. French-speaking neighborhoods, sometimes called "Little Canada," were places where French-speaking families lived, went to school, and attended church.

After 1960, these French-speaking areas slowly disappeared. There were few French-language schools left, and mostly Catholic churches still used the language. By 1976, most Franco Americans spoke English, and many younger people were less interested in their French heritage.

Flag

The Franco-American flag is a special flag for people in the United States with French or Quebec roots. It was made in May 1983 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The flag has a blue background with a white fleur-de-lis and a white five-pointed star.

The blue and white colors come from the flags of the United States and French-speaking countries like France or Quebec. The star stands for the United States, and the fleur-de-lis represents French culture. This flag is important for French Canadians living in the northeastern United States.

Settlements

Cities founded

Further information: List of U.S. place names of French origin

• Biloxi, Mississippi, was founded in 1699 by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
• Boise, Idaho, founded in the 1820s by French fur traders, means "wooded".
• Bourbonnais, Illinois, was named after French Canadian fur trader Francois Bourbonnais. The first permanent resident was French Canadian fur trader Noel LeVasseur in the 1830s.
• Castroville, Texas, was established and settled in 1844 by Henri Castro and French immigrants from Alsace.
• Chicago, Illinois, is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, translated as "wild onion" or "wild garlic", from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679. Henri Joutel, noted that the wild garlic grew abundantly in the area.
• Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was named by French Canadian fur traders for the local tribe's tough trading practices. Cœur d'alêne means "heart of an awl".
• Davenport, Iowa, was founded by Antoine LeClaire, an interpreter for the United States Army, in 1836.
• Detroit, Michigan was founded by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. It was originally called Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, after the minister of marine under Louis XIV.
• Dubuque, Iowa was established as a lead mining site by Canadian Julien Dubuque in 1788.
• Duluth, Minnesota, was named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut. It was first a French fur-trading post.
• Dupont, Colorado, Du Pont, Georgia, Dupont, Indiana, Dupont, Ohio, Dupont, Pennsylvania, Dupont, Tennessee and DuPont, Washington, were founded by the Du Pont family or other French settlers.
• French Camp, California, was used by French-Canadian fur traders in the 1830s and 1840s.
• Galveston, Texas, was first settled in 1816 by French pirate, Louis-Michel Aury, and later by Jean Lafitte.
• Grand Forks, North Dakota, was originally "Les Grandes Fourches", when it was settled in the 1740s by fur traders.
• Green Bay, Wisconsin, or La Baye, was founded by Jean Nicolet in 1634. Many residents are descendants of French Canadian families.
• Juneau, Alaska was founded in 1891 and named after Joseph Juneau, a gold prospector from Montreal.
• Kaskaskia, Illinois was founded in 1703 by French Jesuit missionaries.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin was founded by French traders and established as a city by Solomon Juneau.
• Mobile, Alabama was founded in 1702 by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and his brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne. It was the first capital of Louisiana.
• Natchitoches, Louisiana was founded in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis.
• New Orleans, Louisiana was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne and named after Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.
• New Paltz, New York was founded in 1678 by French Huguenots settlers, including Louis DuBois.
• New Rochelle, New York was founded by French Huguenots and named after La Rochelle, France.
• Peoria, Illinois was first settled in 1680, and the downtown area was once site of "La Ville de Maillet"
• Pierre, South Dakota was named after Pierre Chouteau Jr., a fur trader of French Canadian origin.
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was surveyed in 1669 by Robert de La Salle and was a post of French and Dutch fur traders, prior to the construction of Fort Duquesne.
• Poteau, Oklahoma was founded by French traders
• Portage Des Sioux was founded in 1799 by Zenon Trudeau and François Saucier.
• Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was established in 1685 by Nicholas Perrot as a fur trading post.
• Prairie du Rocher, Illinois was founded in 1722 by Sister Thérèse Langlois.
• Saint Charles, Missouri was founded by Louis Blanchette, a French Canadian, in 1769.
• Saint Louis, Missouri was founded by a French trader, Pierre Laclède, and his stepson, a trader from Louisiana, René Auguste Chouteau in 1764.
• Sainte Genevieve, Missouri was founded in 1735.
• Saint Ignace, Michigan was founded by father Jacques Marquette in 1671.
• St. Joseph, Missouri was founded by Joseph Robidoux c. 1826.
• Saint Paul, Minnesota was established in 1838 by Pierre Parrant and settled by French Canadians. It was named Saint-Paul by Father Lucien Galtier in honor of Paul the Apostle.
• Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan was founded in 1668 by fathers Jacques Marquette and Claude Dablon.
• Vincennes, Indiana was established in 1732 by François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes.

States founded

• Arkansas – named by French explorers from an Indian word meaning "south wind". Arkansas Post was its first French establishment in 1686 by Henri de Tonti.
• Illinois – French for the land of the Illini, a Native American tribe. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. French Canadians settled along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of the French empire of La Louisiane until 1763.
• Indiana – In 1679 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was the first European to cross into Indiana. French-Canadian fur traders arrived, trading with Native Americans. By 1702, a trading post was established near Vincennes.
• Louisiana – from the French Louisiane, in honor of King Louis XIV. Named by Cavelier de La Salle. Many Acadians migrated to Louisiana and are today known as Cajuns.
• Maine – Two Jesuit missions were established by the French in 1609 and 1613. Castine was established by Claude de La Tour in 1613.
• Michigan – The French forts of Fort Saint-Joseph and Fort Michilimackinac, as well as the French establishments of Detroit and Saint Ignace were located in the area of Michigan.
• Minnesota – The first Europeans in the area were French fur traders who arrived in the 17th century. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, and Joseph Nicollet, mapped out the state.
• Missouri – The first European settlers were mostly ethnic French Canadians, who created their first settlement in Missouri at present-day Ste. Genevieve. St. Louis was founded by French from New Orleans in 1764.
• Vermont – comes from a contraction of French words, Vert, green, and mont, mount, mountain. It was named by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
• Wisconsin – named after the Meskousing River. French explorers changed the spelling to "Ouisconsin". La Baye was Wisconsin's main community at the time of New France.

Historiography

Historians have studied Franco-Americans who moved to New England between 1860 and 1930. They have different ideas about what happened to this community. Some think the Franco-Americans stayed strong together, while others think they changed too much to keep their traditions. These different ideas make it hard to learn more about their politics or arts.

Recently, new research has looked at Franco-Americans in new ways. Some historians study how moving between countries affected families and their communities. Others look at how Franco-American women lived and worked. There is also more interest in Franco-Americans in other parts of the United States, like the Midwest and the West Coast.

Notable people

For a more comprehensive list, see List of French Americans.