French Kiss - Part 2 — Real Philly History with Jim Murphy

Why Philly could be called Frenchadelphia

It really is a French Feast!

Secret meeting place: Ben Franklin, John Jay, a translator and a French agent met on three different nights on the second floor of Carpenters’ Hall in Dec. 1775 to discuss French aid for the U.S. in its battle with England. Photo by Jim Murphy, author of “Real Philly History, Real Fast.”

Ben Franklin got the ball rolling

How? Franklin, John Jay and a translator secretly met inside Carpenters’ Hall with a French emissary named Julien-Alexandre Aschard de Bonvouloir on three separate nights that year.

As I say in my book, “Real Philly History Real Fast” … these “talks later led to critical French support of the Colonists’ War Efforts.”

Boy, did they ever!

Even before the U.S. won the hugely important Battle of Saratoga in October, 1777 — which brought the French onto our side with guns ablazing – the French heavily supported us.

In fact, History.com says: “Estimates suggest that at the Colonists’ October 1777 victory at Saratoga, a turning point in the war, 90 percent of all American troops carried French arms, and they were completely dependent on French gunpowder.” I didn’t know this!

And that important support was before we made an official treaty with France on Feb. 6, 1778, called: The Treaty of Amity and Commerce.

Let’s face it:

We could not have won the war without help from the French, Britain’s fiercest enemy.

In all, the French provided about 12,000 solders, and 22,000 naval personnel aboard 63 warships, says History.com. That’s an extraordinary amount of support

Interesting Oddities:

The U.S. had no experience in setting up a modern democratic republic, and took baby steps in becoming a nation. We didn’t even know what to call the head of our government.
Vice President John Adams suggested such crazy titles, as “His Elective Majesty,” “His Mightiness” and “His Highness, the President of the United States of America and the Protector of their Liberties.”
Fortunately, MountVernon.org says, “Washington accepted the simple no-frills title adopted by the House: “The President of the United States.” Good thing.

***Even the beautiful Union League building on Broad Street has a mansard roof, which means it has touches of French Second Empire style or French Renaissance style. Photo by Jim Murphy.***

The French brought beauty and culture
to Philadelphia … along with some terror!

Edmond Charles Genêt, the French minister to the U.S. in 1793 and 1794, became a thorn in President Washington’s side. Why? Washington was desperately trying to stay neutral in an ongoing battle between Britain and the French government that overthrew and executed King Louis XVI in 1793. The revolutionaries nicknamed him “Louis the Last.”

Genêt, who called himself Citizen Genêt to stress his pro-French Revolution stance, felt the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1778 gave him the right to authorize privateers in American ports to seize British ships and cargo.

President Washington, strenuously trying to maintain “a strict neutrality,” thought otherwise. So Genêt, believing the public was on his side, tried to go around the President. In South Carolina, he encouraged Americans to outfit privateers to attack British ships, a brazen and unwise course of action for the U.S. against England.

But, Philadelphians welcomed Genêt to town. And when Washington kept pushing for neutrality, thousands of people in Philadelphia took up Genet’s case … and took to the streets to get Washington to change his mind.

***A mob wanted to drag President Washington out of the President’s House on Market Street, John Adams said in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. Photo by Jim Murphy.***

10,000 people threatened President Washington

In fact, John Adams later wrote Thomas Jefferson about those tense days in Philadelphia, saying: “You certainly never felt the Terrorism excited by Genêt, in 1793, when ten thousand People in the Streets of Philadelphia, day after day threatened to drag Washington out of his House, and effect a Revolution in the Government, or compell (sic) it to declare War in favour of the French Revolution and against England.”

The Genêt affair dissolved into a huge fight between Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in favor of neutrality, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French.

Eventually, things calmed down and the crisis was averted. First, Genêt was recalled by the new Republic of France, where he faced probable execution. Then, with the help of President Washington and … even Alexander Hamilton … Genêt was granted political asylum in the U.S. and lived here until his death in 1834. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Philadelphia was a haven for
French exiles like Talleyrand

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, a famous French politician and diplomat, was just one of many important Frenchmen to escape to Philadelphia. Talleyrand, who traveled here on the ship Willliam Penn in 1794, used the city as his refuge until France returned to normal, says author John L. Earl in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography.

1 out of every 10 people in Philly was French

Earl estimates that about one out of every ten people in Philadelphia at that time was French. “No wonder,” he says, “the Comte de More aptly named it “the French Noah’s Ark.”

I had no idea there were so many French people here then.

French Movers and
Shakers in Philadelphia …

For years, the Pennsylvania Assembly wanted to destroy the old State House we now call Independence Hall, divide the square into building lots and sell them to finance a new capitol building in Harrisburg. Fortunately, Lafayette’s visit stirred memories of the Revolution and made people realize how important it was to our nation’s history. Photo by Jim Murphy.

The Marquis de Lafayette helped protect
Independence Hall as a sacred shrine

When The Marquis de Lafayette made a triumphant trip across the U.S. in 1824, Philadelphians began paying more attention to the historic events that took place in the old State House building. And the need to keep it.

For the first time, people began referring to it as the “Hall of Independence” or “Independence Hall.”

Before then, in 1802, 1813 and 1816, the Pennsylvania Assembly had “contemplated selling the State House and dividing the rest of its square into building lots,” says Charlene Mires in her book, “Independence Hall in American Memory.” What a desecration that would have been.

Fortunately, Lafayette’s visit on Sept. 28, 1824, spurred new reverence for this building as a historic place and a national shrine that’s now visited by millions of people every year. “The Hall of Independence“ became part of Independence National Historical Park June 28, 1948.

Merci, General Lafayette! You helped protect our Independence Hall and eventually make Philadelphia the first U.S. International Heritage City in 2015.

Stephen Girard treated yellow fever victims
… and helped bail out the U.S. Treasury

French-born Stephen Girard, a former ship captain, banker, slave owner, philanthropist and unique mixture of good and not-so-good behavior, did three enormously important things for his city and country.

First, in 1793, Philadelphia — then the nation’s capital — suffered through one of the worst yellow fever epidemics in U.S. history. About 10% of the population died. When the city’s mayor asked its citizens to attend an emergency meeting to help deal with the catastrophe, Girard was one of just ten people who showed up and volunteered to help.

Girard quickly took charge of Bush Hill, a mansion the city temporarily confiscated to deal with the epidemic. He immediately dismissed four doctors who worked part-time, showed up sporadically, and mostly just bled and purged patients, says author George Wilson. Girard tremendously improved conditions and personally took care of sick and dying patients. This was a side that shocked most of those who knew him.

Second, in 1812, Girard personally loaned the U.S. Treasury $8,105,800, more money than he had … to help the U.S fight the British. We had no national bank at that time. The Federalists were out of power. And because they distrusted banks, the Democratic-Republican party, led by Thomas Jefferson, let the First Bank’s charter lapse in 1811. Wikipedia says, “During the War of 1812, Girard single-handedly saved the federal government of the United States from bankruptcy by personally financing the American war effort.”

Third, in his will, Girard, then reportedly the richest man in the United States, left millions of dollars to open and operate Girard College, a boarding school for “poor, white orphans.” The will has been changed several times. Today, the students are not all white, or male any longer. “However,” biographer George Wilson says, “all of them are still poor when they arrive.”

Paul Cret worked on the B.F. Parkway,
Ben Franklin Bridge & Rittenhouse Square

French architect Paul Cret, played a major role in beautifying Philadelphia. Professor of design at the University of Pennsylvania for more than 30 years, he worked on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway … the bridge connecting Philadelphia and New Jersey that later became the Ben Franklin Bridge … and also on the city’s stunning Rittenhouse Square. The American Planning Association praises the square as “a green oasis” with “a maze-like quality that makes it appear much larger than its six acres.”

***Beautiful Rittenhouse Square, designed by Paul Cret, is a central part of what city activist and writer Jane Jacobs called “the perfect neighborhood.” Photo by Jim Murphy.***

The bottom line: in our architecture, our parkway, and our squares, Philadelphia is still strongly influenced by the French.

And we are better for it.

Parc, part of STARR Restaurants, has the joie de vivre of a Parisian cafe. Located across from Rittenhouse Square, it is enormously popular and serves a huge number of patrons. One woman recently said on Yelp that at Parc, she truly felt as if she were transported to Paris. Photo by Jim Murphy.

Some Sources:

Baldridge, Edwin R. “TALLEYRAND’S VISIT TO PENNSYLVANIA, 1794–1796.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 36, no. 2 (1969): 145–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27771767.

Earl, John L. “Talleyrand in Philadelphia, 1794–1796.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 91, no. 3 (1967): 282–98.

https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/paul-philippe-cret/

https://blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2019/03/talleyrand-a-diplomat-par-excellence/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1793_Philadelphia_yellow_fever_epidemic

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Girard_PMA.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rittenhouse_Square

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond-Charles_Genêt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girard_College

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_National_Historical_Park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rittenhouse_Square

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Girard

http://www.forgottenpatriot.com/video2.html