RADICALS ON THE MOVE: FRENCH MIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1850-1900

Abstract

The following dissertation examines the activities of French radical migrants within the United States from 1850-1900. This dissertation illustrates that studying French migration highlights the interconnectedness and continuities of radical movements in the United States throughout the nineteenth century. It emphasizes the many threads connecting the creation of mid nineteenth century socialist colonies like those in Texas, the Paris Commune, The First International, The Knights of Labor, The Socialists Labor Party, and the anarchist movement. French radical migrants worked hard to maintain ties to their own communities, but they also worked closely with Poles, Germans, Italians, Americans in an attempt to create the societies they wanted. This dissertation illustrates that while immigrants such as the French may have clung to different languages and cultures they subscribed to the same basic ideologies. French migrants attempted a wide variety of approaches to how to be successful radicals in the United States, some worked exclusively with French language branches of larger international groups like the First International, while others chose to embrace the English language and work within largely American organizations like the Knights of Labor. Some like Louis Gaoziou attempted to do both. Ultimately, this dissertation illustrates the importance of a French narrative, not just because it fills a historiographical gap, but because their narrative provides further definition to the story of radicalism in the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Numerous French radicals had a long-lasting impact on the communities they migrated into, playing a significant role in shaping American radicalism, while themselves being remade by their American experiences. It was through this process of adaptation, synthesis and hybridization , French ideas, practices and individuals became American ones.