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Title details for When the United States Spoke French by Francois Furstenberg - Available

When the United States Spoke French

Five Refugees Who Shaped a Nation

by Francois Furstenberg
Suzanne Toren
Audiobook
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3 of 3 copies available
In 1789, as the French Revolution shook Europe to the core, the new United States was struggling for survival in the face of financial insolvency and bitter political and regional divisions. When the United States Spoke French explores the republic' s formative years from the viewpoint of a distinguished circle of five Frenchmen taking refuge in America. When the French Revolution broke out, these men had been among its leaders. They were liberal aristocrats and ardent Anglophiles, convinced of the superiority of the British system of monarchy and constitution. They also idealized the new American republic, which seemed to them an embodiment of the Enlightenment ideals they celebrated. But soon the Revolutionary movement got ahead of them, and they found themselves chased across the Atlantic. Francois Furstenberg follows these five men— Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-PErigord, Napoleon' s future foreign minister; theoristreformer Rochefoucauld, the duc de Liancourt; Louis-Marie Vicomte de Noailles; Moreau de Saint-MEry; and Constantin-Francois Chasseboeuf, Comte Volney— as they left their homes and families in France, crossed the Atlantic, and landed in Philadelphia— then America' s capital, its principal port, and by far its most cosmopolitan city and the home of the wealthiest merchants and financiers. The book vividly reconstructs their American adventures, following along as they integrated themselves into the city and its elite social networks, began speculating on backcountry lands, and eventually became enmeshed in Franco-American diplomacy. Through their stories, we see some of the most famous events of early American history in a new light, from the diplomatic struggles of the 1790s to the Haitian Revolution to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By the end of this period, the United States was on its way to becoming a major global power. Through this small circle of men, we find new ways to understand the connections between U.S. and world history, and gain fresh insight into American history' s most critical era. Beautifully written and brilliantly argued, When the United States Spoke French offers a fresh perspective on the tumultuous years of the young nation, when the first great republican experiments were put to the test.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 10, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490627274
      • File size: 491933 KB
      • Duration: 17:04:51

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Suzanne Toren puts her intimate knowledge of French literature, language, and culture to good use in this fascinating examination of one of the least discussed decades in American history--the 1790s. In those years, when Philadelphia was the capital of the nation and the French Revolution was careening toward the Reign of Terror, many French aristocrats decided to make America their home away from home. Speaking with a decidedly American accent and good humor, Toren describes plans to create French settlements in Maine and plots to drag the U.S. into a war with England. But somehow the sound of a U.S. president named Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord just didn't stick. B.P. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 19, 2014
      The French contributed more to the formation of the United States than sending the marquis de Lafayette and some troops during the Revolution. In the 1790s, the new nation’s capital, Philadelphia, attracted Frenchmen staunchly dedicated to republican principles, and historian Furstenberg (In the Name of the Father) focuses on five of those eminent émigrés: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord; Médéric-Louis-Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry; François Alexandre Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld, duc de Liancourt; Constantin-François de Chasseboeuf, comte de Volney; and Louis-Marie, vicomte de Noailles. These refugees regarded America—and Philadelphia in particular—both as a sympathetic ideological haven and a source of new economic opportunities for strengthening France’s empire. Furstenburg begins with a lush social and cultural history of French influences in Philadelphia. The men settled in the same upscale neighborhood and proceeded to shape the city’s tastes and fashions by importing French goods. Armed with letters of introduction, they forged personal and professional relationships with powerful Americans, keeping them in the best circles. The book’s second half explores political intrigue, highlighting the transnational competition for control of the vast western territory of the North American continent. The Americans ultimately won that contest, and thanks to Furstenberg’s riveting history, we now have a better idea why. Illus.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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