French American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A French American or Franco-American is a citizen of the United States of America of French descent and heritage. The majority of Franco-American families did not arrive directly from France, but rather settled French territories in the New World (primarily in the 17th and 18th centuries) before moving to the United States later on. About 13 million U.S. residents are of French descent, and about 1.7 million of them speak the French language at home. An additional 400,000 speak a French Creole language, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
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[edit] French-American Population
While found throughout the country, they are most numerous in New England, Louisiana (where more than 35% of the population of the Cajun Country reported in the last census that French was spoken at home) and Michigan. French Louisiana, when it was sold by Napoleon in 1803, covered more than 15 current U.S. states and French colonists were dispersed all over it, though they were most numerous in its southernmost portion.
Often, Franco-Americans are identified more specifically as being of French Canadian, Cajun, or Louisiana Creole descent. An important part of Franco-American history is the Quebec diaspora of the 1840s-1930s, in which one million French Canadians moved to the United States, principally to the New England states and Michigan. Historically, the French in Canada had very high birth rates, which is why their population was large even though immigration from France was relatively low. They also moved to different regions within Canada, namely Ontario and Manitoba. Many of the early male migrants worked in the lumber industry in both regions, and, to lesser degree, in the burgeoning mining industry in the upper Great Lakes.
Another significant source of immigrants was Saint Domingue, which gained its independence as the Republic of Haiti in 1804 following a bloody revolution; much of its white population (along with some mulattoes) fled during this time, often to Louisiana, where they largely assimilated into the Creole culture.
The Cajuns of Louisiana have a unique heritage. Their ancestors settled Acadia, in what is now the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1755, after capturing Fort Beauséjour in the region, the British army forced the Acadians to either swear an oath of loyalty to the British crown or face expulsion. Thousands refused to take the oath, causing them to be sent, penniless, to the 13 colonies to the south in what has become known as the Great Upheaval. Over the next generation, some 4,000 of them managed to make the long trek to Lousiana, where they began a new life. The name Cajun is a corruption of the word Acadian. Many still live in what is known as the Cajun Country, where much of their colonial culture survives.
Because the ancestors of most French Americans had for the most part left France before the French Revolution, they usually identify more with the Fleur-de-lis of monarchical France than with the modern French tricolor.
[edit] French American communities
According to the U.S. Census Bureau of 2000, French-Americans (of French and French-Canadian ancestry) made up close to, or more than, 10% of the population of:
- New Hampshire (25.2%)
- Vermont (23.3%)
- Maine (22.8%)
- Rhode Island (17.2%)
- Louisiana (16.2%)
- Massachusetts (12.9%)
- Connecticut (9.9%)
In states that once made up part of New France (excluding Louisiana):
- Michigan (6.8%)
- Montana (5.3%)
- Minnesota (5.3%)
- Wisconsin (5%)
- North Dakota (4.7%)
- Wyoming (4.2%)
- Nevada (3.9%)
- Missouri (3.8%)
- Kansas (3.6%)
French-Americans also made up more than 4% of the population in
- Washington (4.6%)
- Oregon (4.6%)
- Alaska (4.2%)
National percentage of Americans of French & French-Canadian ancestry: 5.3%
States with the largest French communities include (according to the 2000 U.S. Census):
French & French-Canadian:
1. California- 927,453
2. Massachusetts- 818,388
3. Michigan- 680,939
4. Louisiana- 680,208
5. New York- 628,810
State capitals with French names include Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Boise, Idaho; Des Moines, Iowa; Juneau, Alaska; and Montpelier, Vermont.
[edit] Religion
French Americans are divided between those of Roman Catholic heritage (which includes most French Canadians and Cajuns) and those of Huguenot (Protestant) background, most of whom came during the colonial period. For most of its existence, New France was open only to Catholic settlement. In response, many Huguenots - who sought to emigrate as they faced religious discrimination in France - moved instead to other countries (mainly England, the Netherlands and Prussia) and their overseas territories, including the 13 colonies of Great Britain and the Dutch Cape Colony. Huguenots tended to assimilate more quickly into English-speaking society than their Catholic counterparts. One-third of all American Presidents have some proven Huguenot ancestry, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
[edit] French Language in the United States
According to the National Education Bureau, French is the second most commonly taught foreign language in U.S. high schools, colleges and universities behind Spanish. French was the most commonly taught foreign language until the 1980s, when the influx of Hispanic immigrants aided the growth of Spanish. According to the U.S. 2000 Census, French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish and Chinese with over 1.7 million speakers. In addition to parts of Louisiana, the language is also commonly spoken in Miami, northern Maine, Vermont and New York City, home to large French-speaking communities from France, Canada, as well as the Caribbean.
As a result of French immigration to what is now the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries, the French language was once widely spoken in much of the country, especially in the former Louisiana Territory, as well as in the Northeast. French-language newspapers existed in many American cities, especially New Orleans. Americans of French descent often lived in French-dominated neighborhoods, where they attended schools and churches that used their language. In New England, Upstate New York and the Midwest, French-Canadian neighborhoods were known as "Little Canadas"
[edit] See also
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