We initiated our country without the French. They provided some distractions to the British military a few yuears later, for reasons that had little do do with helping the fledgling US.
Uhhh... what, were the Bosch invading New York and French soliders helped out there? That's not the history as *I* heard it...
They told us we were evil He taught us we were good They told us we were weak He taught us we were strong He is gone now His words still teach
The French provided significant assistance in the creation of an independent US. It was the French navy that defeated the British in the Battle of the Capes, making the victory at Yorktown possible, where the French army also contributed heavily. Of course they did it for their own interests, but the help to the US cannot be denied.
This is rmr. Any FACT can be denied by an anonymous troll.
didn't they offer the Confederates some help during the Civil War?
shockie B)
The British did. They were still PO'd about the revolution and 1812, so they were willing to help the south. Also, their textile trade was dependent on southern cotton, so that surely affected it some, too.
Don't recall any official French participation.
How 'bout French-Canadian?
I will probably get a lot of flak for saying this, but I had issues with about 90% of his politics. I will refrain from mentioning them in this thread.
That being said, the man did two things for which we all should thank him and revere his memory.
1) He made patriotism fashionable again.2) He once again made us proud of being Americans.
This was a hell of a job in a post-Vietnam environment.
Rest in Peace, Dutch.
Bill Sullivan
What aid did the British provide to the CSA? As I recall the CSA sought British aid and tried to use cotton as a bargaining chip, but the British simply turned to Egyptian cotton.
I thought the British did sell some weapons to the CSA, and I seem to recall some British trading ships running the Union blockades. Furthermore, didn't the British allow some oceangoing (versus coastal) CSA vessels to resupply and refit in British ports?
Doug
You know what? That is an excellent point.
I would add another point (that becomes even more remarkable with the passage of time). He managed to reduce by orders of magnitude the nuclear threat that was facing us. As I look back, it used to seem 'normal' to believe that at any point in time, we could be annihilated by nuclear weapons with just a few minutes warning. We no longer live under that threat, thanks to Reagan. I don't think that the current generation really has a 'feel' for what the Cuban missile crisis, etc., wreaked upon the American psyche.
David Erbas-White
There may have been some of that, I really don't know. But the British weren't about to recognize the CSA or provide the assistance the South sought because the British didn't support slavery and they could get cotton from other sources.
When he went off to college, he drove 100 miles back home from college every Sunday to teach his Sunday school class. In 1928, that was a heck of a long drive. How many of us have sacrificed as much as he did, not just for his church but as he did later, for his country? The Gipper was a great guy.
Aloha, I will agree that Reagan did a few good things. The reduction in nuclear arms was in and of itself a great legacy. For that he should be aplauded. Another thing. Unlike the blithering little twit who currently inhabits the White House, Reagan could pronounce nuclear.
Larry
ROFL
I bet he could spell it too. ; )
Randy
Amen to that! Unfortunately the media and the Dems are trying their hardest to drag us back down to the post-'Nam era.
The Brits built almost all of the gun boats and commerce raiders the CSA used in the war. After the war, the Brits were forced to admit guilt, pay reparations and beg our forgiveness. An excellent account of it is included in the works of Henry Adams. The Brits secretly aided the CSA for the entire duration of the war. However, after the emancipation Proclamation, things turned against them. English trade guilds began to back the North in an anti-slavery bent. That forced Parliament to reign in the PM and others who had been leading the aid to CSA business.
All of us Cold Warriors sure do. I was USAF AWS, but spent my time mostly on SAC and NORAD bases. I was keenly aware, as were my buddies, how close to atomic death we really were.
Talk about a thankless but in hindsight, a historically significant job!
Historian, are ya?
Jerry
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