1y ago

What happened to the French colonists in the US. ?

Something stunning when travelling to the US is the number of cities called some something Ville, Nashville, Jacksonville and all the small ville you'll see when going at a random place on google maps, let alone a state called "vert mont" which can't sounds more french.

So there is definitely evidence for a significant french influence in former Louisiana. However, the french-influence seems very diluted in modern US, especially when looking at the cliché regarding American pretending to be Irisish/Italian because of one ancestor from that country. Moreover, US isn't really famous for their wine/bread/cheese

So i am curious to learn how these colonist merged with the anglo-saxon and what's left of their heritage in modern US .

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You could also read up on (or just check the Wikipedia page for) "Nouvelle France;" there's a section on the settlers. All around the Great Lakes and all the way down to the Gulf were French settlements, and the names are largely still there, just weirdly Anglicized. In Arkansas, "La Petit Roche" is Little Rock, there's a mountain called Petit Jean that's pronounced "Petty Gene," and (my favorite) "Aux Arcs" became "Ozarks." The French influence is still everywhere in the Louisiana Purchase area, it's just misspelled, mispronounced, or we've forgotten it was once French. It blended right in.
- There's still people in Louisiana that speak French. Also Louisiana doesn't have counties. It had parishes. I think Louisiana is the closest remainder to the French colonies
- The ones that went to Canada became "Acadiens", and the ones who went to Lousiana became "Cajuns". Similar names, right?

25 comments