Vive La France

By John Freivalds

Published: TBD

Boy do we live in challenging times where our President trashes our closest allies forgetting that they help make America great. N’est-ce Pas? (or in the vernacular ain’t it so!)

It was beyond boorish for President Trump to tweet that if not for US intervention in WWII, the French today would be speaking German. Au contraire. If it were not for past actions of the French, Americans would be speaking English with a pronounced British accent, drinking warm beer, eating kidney pie and suffering through their rigid caste structure. For our history challenged President, the French have come to the aid of the US twice which saved the country from being just another British colony and allowing us to create our democracy. Porquoi?

When 70-year old Ben Franklin boarded the Continental sloop-of-war Reprisal in October 1776 for a month-long voyage to France, George Washington was losing the war against the British. Franklin used his charm and language skills to get the French to join the war in 1778 and forced the British surrender in 1781. The French fleet blocked the British and the French money, arms, military leadership all turned the tide to make America great again.

It was good to make France a friend for in 1803 they sold the Louisiana Purchase to the US, more than doubling the size of the United States. It included what is now Minnesota west of the Mississippi and what became 14 other US states from the Gulf of Mexico to the Rocky Mountains. Remember the French were among the first European explorers to the American Midwest and South. French names abound in today's Minnesota:  Hennepin, Mille Lacs, Voyageurs, Nicollet, LaSalle, Duluth, Lafayette, Grand Marais, Grand Portage, Fond du Lac, Belle Plain and the list goes on.

But the British, not willing to accept defeat in 1781, fought the fledging American Republic again in the War of 1812. At that time, it seems that the British were always mad at the French (they still are) and thought it was okay to seize American ships and kidnap our sailors. Historians in Britain saw the American seizures as a "minor" part of the Napoleonic Wars. In the US it was a war in its own right. Again, French arms and resources were put in play. A final battle was fought in New Orleans where the British were decidedly beaten by a force led by Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory, who Trump likes to fashion himself after) and the French general, Jean Lafite, who helped him turn the tide of battle. Jackson said "He exhibited courage and fidelity."

For you musically challenged, the "Battle of New Orleans" became a top of the chart’s song by Johnny Horton in 1959, 60 years ago. Some of the most memorable lyrics: "We fired our guns and the British kept a coming, there wasn't nigh many as there was a while ago, we fired once more and they begin a runnin, on down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico." The British lost 2,084 men in the battle of New Orleans while the Americans lost 62.

The French were impressed by us. For in the mid 1830's a fellow with the imposing name of Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, Viscount de Tocqueville came to the US and admired what he saw. He said this: "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation but in her ability to fix her faults...America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

Probably the height of gratitude towards the French was the fact JFK was learning French so he could speak it with then French President Charles De Gaulle. But being a fluent French speaker did not do John Kerry very well in his run for President even though France is the number one tourist destination in the world. Oh, by the way, look at your passport -- half of it is written in French which is still maintains its status as language of diplomacy.