Entre gallophobie et gallomanie : la perception de la France chez les marchands américains en voyage, 1776 - 1815

Abstract

As the American colonies announced their political break from the Mother Country in 1776, France was getting ready to offer the insurgents a military and economic cooperation. American merchants were at the core of these newly developed networks, and by travelling to France, were able to rethink their stereotyped vision, strengthen exchanges, and define their national identity. What perception of France emerges from the writings of these merchants travelling between the two wars of independence (1776-1815)? The age-old enemy turns into an economic partner, a ‘sister-republic’ in 1789 and a new cultural model. But from 1793, as France plunges into the Terror, the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, admiration gave way to suspicion and repulsion. American travellers then realise they will not forge their identity by imitating European powers, but by turning away from them.