Yep. France is the USA’s oldest ally. They helped us win our independence from Britain. We helped them kick out invading Germans twice.
There was a chance Napoleon might have set his eyes on the Americas if he had won in Europe. But we will never know.
I’m an American who actually likes France. I’ve visited before and plan to again. I’ve never really understood the hate from my fellow Americans. I think a lot of it started during the US invasion of Iraq when France refused to send troops. It was suddenly “freedom fries” and fuck the French propaganda everywhere, and I think its stuck. Despite most Americans knowing the Iraq war was a sham at this point.
Napoléon probably didn’t plan anything for the US because it wasn’t a monarchy. I mean he certainly would have invade the whole world in the end, but you get it. In fact he even sold Louisiana to the US to fund his wars, for a ridiculous price, particularly considering that Louisiana at the time was a really big chunk, extending to the Appalachians. The US never payed for it, iirc.
Regarding the Louisiana purchase, I recall learning somewhere that Napoleon was happy to sell it to fund his European campaign, and figured when the time came he could just invade and take it back if he wanted.
I think before 2001 it had a different vibe. As a kid it felt like it was fairly present even back then, but thinking back on it now it was more of a “kid brother imitating their older sibling” vibe that probably came from imported European culture. Stuff like Monty Python or whatever making “everybody hates the French” jokes, where Americans just kinda ran with it without understanding the context of centuries of war in Europe that gave rise to an in-group joke that we are definitely not a part of, or felt that they were a part of the in-group because of their heritage as immigrants or something.
Also probably not helped by the fact that France’s aid is generally glossed over in American history in favor of a more “pulled ourselves out of British tyranny by our bootstraps” narrative.
I doubt most Americans even know that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France.
Strangely enough, the US has never been at war with France.
Yep. France is the USA’s oldest ally. They helped us win our independence from Britain. We helped them kick out invading Germans twice.
There was a chance Napoleon might have set his eyes on the Americas if he had won in Europe. But we will never know.
I’m an American who actually likes France. I’ve visited before and plan to again. I’ve never really understood the hate from my fellow Americans. I think a lot of it started during the US invasion of Iraq when France refused to send troops. It was suddenly “freedom fries” and fuck the French propaganda everywhere, and I think its stuck. Despite most Americans knowing the Iraq war was a sham at this point.
Napoléon probably didn’t plan anything for the US because it wasn’t a monarchy. I mean he certainly would have invade the whole world in the end, but you get it. In fact he even sold Louisiana to the US to fund his wars, for a ridiculous price, particularly considering that Louisiana at the time was a really big chunk, extending to the Appalachians. The US never payed for it, iirc.
Regarding the Louisiana purchase, I recall learning somewhere that Napoleon was happy to sell it to fund his European campaign, and figured when the time came he could just invade and take it back if he wanted.
I think before 2001 it had a different vibe. As a kid it felt like it was fairly present even back then, but thinking back on it now it was more of a “kid brother imitating their older sibling” vibe that probably came from imported European culture. Stuff like Monty Python or whatever making “everybody hates the French” jokes, where Americans just kinda ran with it without understanding the context of centuries of war in Europe that gave rise to an in-group joke that we are definitely not a part of, or felt that they were a part of the in-group because of their heritage as immigrants or something.
Also probably not helped by the fact that France’s aid is generally glossed over in American history in favor of a more “pulled ourselves out of British tyranny by our bootstraps” narrative.
I doubt most Americans even know that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France.