In honor of Independence Day, I am publishing this reflection on the great contribution made by France to the cause of American independence.
 In 1778, the British army occupied Philadelphia, then the largest and wealthiest American city. The British navy had “bottled up†the port there, and in Boston and New York.
 The Continental Congress had fled westward from Philadelphia, first to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then across the Susquehanna River to the safety of York, Pa.
 It was in York, Pennsylvania that the alliance with France was completed. To the disappointment of the colonial army, there were few immediate effects. But, when France moved, it moved mightily. French arms and warships began to turn the tide for the colonials within the next year.
 In the end, it was the French Navy that prevented the British Navy from rescuing their fighting force on the middle peninsula of Virginia –where Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender the largest British army in the New World.
 In May of 1978, the US Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the French Alliance. The stamp shows Benjamin Franklin arguing the case of the colonies to King Louis XVI.
 The commemorative stamp was issued at the colonial courthouse, which was reconstructed amid original colonial buildings in the heart of York, Pa.
 This First Day cover has a colorful cachet featuring the flags of the United States and France.
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Comments: 27
He did the right thing for freedom in America, but could not conceive of such a thing for France.
And how about the Statue of Liberty, presented to America by a French artist who saw America as holding a beacon of Freedom to the world.
It's true that democratic nations can piss each other off but are you being way too uncharitable? French cheeses, wines, culture, literature, music, painting, croissants, Paris, fashion, the list goes on. Are you not able to appreciate cultivation and think art's too farty?
Are you the kind who forgets past kindnesses and gifts and only asks what have you done for me lately?
This is a playful response on her part.
I did not invent the term - but I did misapply it. The main body of Virginia lying north of the James - including Williamsburg and the Cornwallis surrender site, is not on the "middle" peninsula.
I lived in Charlottesville for about a year, and that is the most landlocked - nary-a-body-of-water-in-sight - place I've ever lived. Growing up in Jersey, I was unaccustomed to so much oceanless land. lol
But, most places I've lived had so much revolutionary history to it, so I did, very much, appreciate the hats-off to the French in helping us become free. I've also wondered what would have happened to this country had they aided us in our Civil War early on. I suspect I'm glad they didn't.
I do think France helped us to do what they were most likely to want to do - fight against England. Still, what country doesn't turn blind eyes to get what they wanted all along? No war would ever be fought unless it had a justification for the country that fought in it. Being Americans. I can't turn my nose up at the French for helping us, when we needed them. I hope they can always trust our friendship to help them when they need it to. We have and we probably will again.
I'd like to think most Americans don't hold their refusal to join the fight in the Middle East against them, even for this long. I'm one of few Americans who don't think it's time to quit, but have never blamed France for disagreeing.
I've never understood why it became fashionable to resent and disparage France and its culture, but perhaps part of that is that I do not wish to comprehend it.
More recently, it sticks in the craw of the flag-waving chicken-hawks that France was absolutely right about estimating the threat of Saddam, about the ultimate cost of the war, and about the impossibility of neat outcomes.
They've got all rights to skip one here and there. It's their choice. I never expect my friends to take up a fight, simply because I think the fight is the right thing to do. That goes with fighting in war or fighting against injustices on a more personal basis.
Americans tend to think of the UK as our strongest ally. They may be - hard to judge who's first, but I know the French have been our longest ally.
Fracne isn't into fighting everything. Smart country. I still like it when they are willing to surprise everyone on occasion. lol