Tomorrow (July 2nd) marks the start of the Tour de France, the 22-day and 2100-mile bicycle race throughout the mountainous terrain of France. Soon afterwards, Americans celebrate their independence day on July 4th. The juxtaposition of these two great events of national celebration seems fitting given the deep and long-lasting friendship between the French and American people. In fact, the juxtaposition would have been even closer if President John Adams had gotten his way. Adams wanted independence day to be celebrated on July 2nd when the Continental Congress voted for independence, rather than on July 4th when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. But it was not to be.
The relationship goes back all the way to the founding of the United States. At first, when France was still ruled by an absolute monarchy, the friendship had nothing to do with shared values, but was simply a marriage of convenience based on France’s hatred of England – the “enemy of my enemy is my friend.” King Louis XVI supported the American colonists in their war for independence against the British, with French military support – led by Marquis de Lafayette — sealing America’s ultimate victory against the British at Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781.
After the French revolution in 1789, the relationship changed from one of convenience to one of shared values. It’s no coincidence that both the U.S. and French flags exhibit red, white, and blue colors. The new French flag was modeled after America’s and the French “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” was written by Lafayette and modeled after the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A Frenchman named Pierre L’Enfant, who fought for the Americans under Lafayette in the Revolutionary War, was an architect who President Washington commissioned in 1791 to design Washington D.C. In 1803, French dictator Napoleon sold the huge Louisiana territory to the U.S. for three cents an acre, which instantaneously doubled the size of the United States.
From 1803 to 1817, architect Benjamin Latrobe – ostensibly British but of French Huguenot lineage – designed most of the buildings in the District of Columbia, including the U.S. Capitol. In 1835, French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville published Democracy in America, which is universally described as the best book ever written about the American psyche, as well as the best book ever written about democracy in general.
A little blip in the Franco-American relationship occurred during the American Civil War, when France appeared to side with the Confederate southern states. But France got bogged down in Mexico before it could interfere in the U.S. conflict, which is why to this very day Americans celebrate the 1862 Mexican victory over the French on Cinco de Mayo. Good relations returned after the Union victory in 1865, when a French professor named Édouard René de Laboulaye proposed celebrating the victory of anti-slavery forces in the U.S. with a statue of liberty. This proposal inspired French architect Frédéric Bartholdi to design the statue. Statue construction began in France during the mid-1870s and was jointly funded by a Franco-American Union, which was composed of private citizens in both France and the U.S. The final product was delivered to New York City and dedicated in October 1886 as a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States.
It’s clear from this history that the U.S. and France have a “special relationship” that rivals that of the U.S. and Great Britain. In 2007, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, whose nickname is “Sarko the American,” addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on the subject of Renewing the French-American Alliance. In the speech, Sarkozy called the United States “the greatest nation in the world” and stated:
Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, the loyalty between the French and American people has never failed. And far from being weakened by the vicissitudes of History, it has never ceased growing stronger. In times of difficulty, in times of hardship, America and France have always stood side by side, supported one another, helped one another, and fought for each other’s freedom.
The deliberations of your Congress are conducted under the double gaze of Washington and Lafayette. What was it that brought these two men — so far apart in age and background — together, if not their faith in common values, the heritage of the Enlightenment, the same love for freedom and justice?
I’ve already written about the best French stocks, so, in honor of U.S.-French relations, I now present you with the top five U.S. companies located in France:
Stocks often rise in anticipation of holidays and sporting events. Elliott Gue, co-editor of Cocktail Stocks loves to look for catalysts; in fact, they are one of Elliott’s favorite buy triggers. As he wrote in an advisor roundtable:
When researching growth-oriented companies I look for catalysts. There’s no point in buying or selling a stock that’s just going to trade sideways or follow the broader market in lockstep.
If you are looking for a short-term trading service that can spice up your investment returns with some quick winners in three to nine months’ time, Cocktail Stocks is just what the doctor ordered.
Right now, Elliott Gue and co-editor Yiannis Mostrous are recommending six stocks – including a European ETF and a Latin American growth rocket — primed to deliver double-digit gains quickly. They recently recommended shorting an index primed to fall.
To find out the names of their latest picks, give Cocktail Stocks a try today!
Similar Posts:
- S&P Credit Downgrade of U.S. Becoming Likely: We Need a Third Party
- Corn Prices And The 4th Of July
- Investing in Nuclear Power Remains a Compelling Choice
- Personal Finance Website Conducts “American Dream” Survey with National Endowment
- Get Ready for Canadian Elections in May
Recent Comments