French immigrants
French immigrants to the United States have a rich history that has evolved through various waves of migration, often influenced by political, religious, and economic upheavals in France. The initial French settlement in the U.S. began in the 17th century, notably in Louisiana and New France (now Quebec). Significant migration occurred during the 18th century due to the expulsion of Huguenots—French Protestants persecuted after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes—who contributed to various prosperous settlements. The 19th century saw a surge in French immigration, particularly during periods of political turmoil in France, with many settling in states like New York, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana.
Throughout the 20th century, immigration patterns shifted due to global events such as World Wars I and II, leading to a decline in French migrants. Post-war immigration often involved individuals with high educational and professional qualifications. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the number of Americans claiming French ancestry remained significant, with over nine million identified in the 2020 Census. However, recent trends show that French citizens are migrating less frequently, attributed to stabilizing conditions in France and a decrease in motivations for emigration, reflecting broader demographic shifts and changing attitudes toward immigration in both France and the U.S.
French immigrants
SIGNIFICANCE: French immigration to the United States has been episodicgenerally paralleling religious, political, and economic upheavals in France.
French settlement in the United States began during the age of exploration and colonization of the seventeenth century in Louisiana and intensified with the expulsion from France of the Huguenotsor French Protestantsduring the eighteenth century. Migration from French Canada in 1755 originated with the expulsion of the French settlers from AcadiaNova Scotia and New Brunswickby Great Britain. Voluntary migration of French Canadians intensified from 1900 until 1930 to New England to work in shoe and textile factories. Haitian migration to New York City increased during the 1980s because of economic and political upheavals. French migration to the United States can also be documented from the French-speaking nations of Belgium, Switzerland, West Africa, and French Polynesia.
French Immigration Before the Revolution
French interest in the Americas was stimulated by the voyages of the Spanish, Portuguese, and English. During the seventeenth century, explorers sailing under the French flag navigated the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean and founded settlements along the Mississippi River in what would become Louisiana and along the St. Lawrence River in New Franceor Quebecwith much smaller settlements at Beaufort, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida.
Emigration from France was strictly regulated by law. French settlers in the New World were usually trappers, soldiers, or clerics until 1685 when King Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantesstripping the Protestant Huguenots of their political rights unless they converted to Roman Catholicism. In response, many Huguenots opted to emigrate to North America. Among France’s most skilled artisans, the Huguenots were well-educated members of the wealthy middle class. Their departure crippled the French economy but led to the creation of prosperous settlements at New Rochelle, Staten Island, Harlem, and New Paltz in what would become the state of New York. Huguenot families also settled in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. Conflicting accounts made it difficult to provide accurate figures on the number of Huguenots who settled in the future United Statesstimates range from as few as 3,000 to as many as 15,000 before the first U.S. Census in 1790.
Nineteenth-Century Immigration
The first U.S. Census in 1790 listed 11,307 residents of French origin. New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Maryland had the largest number of French-speaking residents. Other states with significant French populations included North Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and what was then the territory of Maine.
Between 1819 and 1870, 245,812 French immigrants arrived in the United States. Their numbers steadily rose—from 8,868 during the 1820s to 45,575 during the 1830s. The next two decades witnessed further increases in French immigrants77,262 during the 1840s and 76,358 during the 1850s. The increased numbers of French immigrants during each of those decades reflected the disorders caused by political revolutions in France in 1830, 1848, and 1852.
During the 1860sthe decade the U.S. Civil War was foughtthe number of new French immigrants declined to 37,749. The 1870 U.S. Census counted 115,260 U.S. residents born in Francewith the largest numbers in New York, Ohio, Louisiana, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. The loss of the French province of Alsace-Lorraine to Prussia in 1871 in the Franco-Prussian War increased the number of French Alsatiansparticularly French Jewswho went to the United States. Nevertheless, the 1880 U.S. Census saw a decline in the number of French-born residents of the United States to 104,143. By this time, California had replaced Ohio among the five states with the most French residents.
The 1900 U.S Census showed a further decline in the size of the French-born population, whose numbers had dropped to 102,535. The largest communities were in New York, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. Between 1875 and 1914, France’s politics and national economy were stabilizingmost French emigrants chose to see economic opportunities in French colonies in North Africa and Southeast Asia.
Twentieth-Century Patterns
Immigration from France declined during the upheavals brought by World War I (1914–18) and World War II (1939–45). After 1945, Europe experienced an economic recovery that further discouraged emigration to the United Statesnew immigration was most likely to be motivated by marriages between French and American citizens. The postwar French immigrants who came to the United States generally had high levels of education and significant job skills.
In 1980, the U.S. Census began collecting information on national ancestry and found 13 million American citizens regarded themselves as having French ancestryore than one-quarter of these people lived in the Northeast. A similar percentage in north-central and southern states claimed French ancestryin the West, only 19 percent claimed French heritage. The individual states with the most residents claiming French ancestry were California, Louisiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York. Although a cohesive French American community was lacking in the United States, according to the 2020 U.S. Census data, over nine million Americans claimed some connection to French ancestry.
By the mid 2020s, French people were not migrating out the country in significant numbers as there were few economic, political, or social reasons to do so. One report suggested less than one French person per 1,000 chose to emigrate. Instead, Francelike the United States and many other developed countriesmade efforts to curtail immigration into its country resulting from a political backlash over perceptions of unchecked foreign immigration inside its borders. Of a 2024 population of 68.3 million people, an estimated 8.65 million were foreign born. Like the demographics in other developed countries, immigration into the country stemmed from labor shortages were partially brought on from an increasingly aged population. In an eighteen year period from 2006-2024, the number of the French population over the age of 65 jumped from 10 million to 14 million.
In terms of birth rate, the number of children per French women aged 15-49the statistical age range used to denote childbearing yearswas 1.8. A rate of 2.1 is necessary to sustain a population at its current size. France's birth rate suggested its population was contracting, particularly among younger demographics. These figures partly explained why there was a lack of native-born French migrants away from its borders and why immigrant populations sought to enter.
Bibliography
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McDermott, John Francis, ed. Frenchmen and French Ways in the Mississippi Valley. Champaign, University of Illinois Press, 1969.
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U.S. Census Bureau, 2020, data.census.gov/table?t=Ancestry&tid=ACSDT5Y2020.B04006. Accessed 12 Mar. 2023.
Thompson, Hannah. "France’s Immigrants: We Look at the Trends in the Latest Official Data." The Connexion, 29 Aug. 2023, www.connexionfrance.com/news/frances-immigrants-we-look-at-the-trends-in-the-latest-official-data/106797. Accessed 24 Sept. 2024.