Pulaski

I knew what you meant, but I was pointing out that by 1812 the French government had already long since ceded it's Canadian colony to the British, and so what ever happened in the War of 1812, what ever the outcome, it would not have led to anyone being forced to speak French.

robin1234

The islands are just off the coast of Newfoundland. You can fly there from St. John's, Ottawa, Montreal, maybe Halifax, NS too. There is a ferry from Newfoundland and we almost went when we were there on holiday, but we couldn't quite fit it in.

As I recall France retained the islands really early on, maybe the treaty that ended the seven years war? What happened to the islands during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars I don't know.

robin1234

Hmm .. Who knows what would have happened if Jean Kerry become President, though?

robin1234

Fascinating, just reading about St. Pierre et Miquelon history. Apparently the Free French seized the territory from Vichy in 1941, despite the opposition of the USA which of course was in bed with the Vichy regime at that time.

Owen778

Maybe, but even if there was a Waterloo or close to it, it's unlikely the commander of the Anglo-Allied army would have come from a distant and minor theatre of the previous war.

robin1234

To be fair, they were totally separate wars. French weren't involved in 1812-1814 war, and in general the Americans weren't sympathetic to France.

Having said that, the Bonaparte family planned on moving to my neck of the woods, northern NY. Emperor Napoleon himself didn't make it, but other prominent members of the family did.

Pulaski

But the French were sympathetic to America, because they thought the Americans would distract the British.

hungryhorace

Or without the Prussians (who saved Wellington) at Waterloo. Without Wellington, Napoleon would have remained in power for many more years to come.

Not a chance. Napoleon's invasion of Russia did not fail due to lack of troops. He couldn't even keep those that he took with him supplied, let alone those stationed in Portugal and Spain.

hungryhorace

Wellington would have commanded Waterloo. Wellington was indirectly asked to take over the British Army stationed in America in 1814. He was their only hope of potentially recovering the situation. He wasn't interested, and the rest is history.

Remember, even at this time before Waterloo, he was a national hero, up there with the likes of Montgomery after Alamein.

S Folinsky

Just returned from a trip to the shores of Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River [1000 Islands Area]. My other half noted that there was many more Maple Leaf flags north of the border than there were Stars and Stripes south of the border.

At one point, we took Horne's Ferry between Port Alexandria, Ontario and Cape Vincent, New York. Both the US and Canadian border people inquired as to WTF we were using these remote border crossings. [Had a good excuse, my parents lived as newlyweds at Tibbetts Point lighthouse in 1943-44. I finally got to see the place I've heard about all my life.]

BTW, I think it is appropriate to simply stand and no need to recite the pledge. But then I'm used to standing when a Judge enters her courtroom.

Jerseygirl

Interesting...we are thinking of spending a few days there. Any hotels or places of interest you can recommend?

robin1234

Restaurant - Tin Pan Galley, Sacketts Harbor, NY. Sacketts Harbor is a perfect little eighteenth/nineteenth century village, with lots of War of 1812 military remains. Has a brewpub and several restaurants, including the above where we eat a couple of times a year.
Public Library - The Flower Memorial Library, Watertown, NY. Superb mid nineteenth century library with artwork, marble, murals etc. it has a perfectly preserved Napoleon Room, with portraits and busts of Napoleon, empire furnishings and furniture. Apparently they were purchased by local grandees to try to persuade Napoleon to come and live in Jefferson County after 1814. He didn't, but his brother the King of Rome and various other family members did set up a compound in northern NY.

Bob

They use the Euro and everything...Which is all very random.

robin1234

Well yes, France does use the euro...

FlyingDutchman6666

Except that nobody had heard of Belgium back then... it simply did not exist yet.

The city that bears the name of the peace treaty was then well on its way from the First French Empire to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The French had recently absorbed it into their Empire, after a century of Austrian rule.

Only 15 years later it was dragged kicking and screaming into francophone, catholic Belgium. Hardly surprising, because the population consisted mainly of double-dutch-speaking crypto-Protestants (pretending to be Catholic after 150 years of Spanish rule - read: inquisition). In many ways, the population still feels the same way.

I think my point is that it's a luxury to sing a national anthem or pledge an alliance, and unambiguously feel part of it.