[Montreal] Chicago, New Orleans... Surprising commonalities of North American cities 🇫🇷🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇧

Bonjour🌷

I am studying French while working in Montreal. What was originally planned as a six-month stay has turned into my second year because I have become captivated by this city😆

In high school, I chose world history and learned about American history, but I was not very familiar with geography.

After I started living in North America, I became interested and started researching, and I found it fascinating that the history of being a former French territory remains in current place names and culture, so I wanted to introduce it💭

1. Quebec

Québec

Quebec is also used for the letter 'Q' in the internationally recognized phonetic alphabet. The top image of this article is the flag of the province of Quebec, which features the lily flower that symbolizes the French royal family🪽 In 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain settled and founded Quebec City. Quebec means 'where the river narrows' in the indigenous language, and the terrain is actually like that✨

Orleans Island on the map is derived from the city of Orléans in central France🫧

2. Montreal

Mont-Royal → Montréal

Origin: It is said that in 1535, French explorer Jacques Cartier visited the island of Montreal, climbed a mountain, and in honor of the then King of France François I, he named it
Mont Royal , meaning 'Mount Royal.' Over time, this became Montreal.

Let's review the history here👇

In contrast to France, Britain established the 13 colonies in 1607, centered around present-day Boston. They further expanded their territory, and their spheres of influence gradually began to overlap.

Then, the conflict between the two deepened, the French and Indian War broke out in 1754, and with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, French territories were ceded to Britain.

By the way, triggered by the Boston Tea Party in 1773, America declared independence from Britain in 1776. In other words, France's defeat in North America led to American independence. When you think about it that way, it makes sense why the Statue of Liberty was sent from France🇫🇷 to commemorate independence, which is interesting, isn't it?🗽

So, returning to the topic of geography, there are actually place names of French origin remaining in the United States today!

3. Illinois - Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest city in the United States.
This place was also formerly French territory, Nouvelle-France.
The name Illinois is said to mean "people" in the indigenous language, and because the French heard it and wrote it down in a French style, it has a silent 's' at the end.✨
Chicago also seems to mean "garlic-like plant" in the indigenous language, and while I think there might have been a misunderstanding as to why it was a plant, it is said that it was named Chicago instead of Chikago because it was written in the French style! Have you ever wondered why it is pronounced 'Chicago' when reading it in an English style would make it 'Chikago'?🙂💭

4. Louisiana, New Orleans

New Orleans

New Orleans in Louisiana was founded by the French at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1718. Because of this, it seems that 0.7% of the population can still speak French today.✨ Even though it's in America! Interesting.

Louisiana is named after the French King Louis XIV, and New Orleans is also the name of the city I introduced as an island in Quebec, and it is said to be named after Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who served as regent for Louis XV.💭

New Orleans is the setting for the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog, and is considered the birthplace of jazz.🎶 Furthermore, since there is a famous festival, it is one of the cities I want to visit someday.🌃

Mardi Gras

In New Orleans, from January 6th every year until the day called "Mardi Gras" in February or March, the whole city is wrapped in a festive mood of purple, gold, and green, and festivals are held where you can enjoy giant float parades and bead throwing.
Actually, this was also brought over from France, and "Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday" in French. It began when Christians would feast and eat up all the meat, butter, and other delicacies in their homes right before entering the 40-day fasting period (Lent) before Easter.

5. Michigan, Detroit

Detroit

Detroit, which has flourished as a car city since the 19th century with companies like Ford at its center, is also a city founded by the French. The automaker Cadillac is derived from the name of this French founder.🙆‍♀️✨

Detroit means "strait/narrow waterway" in French.

This place is actually an important waterway connecting
Lake Erie ← Detroit River → Lake St. Clair
.

Furthermore, if you connect the route from Quebec, down the St. Lawrence River, to Detroit as a transit point for the Great Lakes, and from there down the Mississippi River to New Orleans at the mouth, you can see the water network that France built over 110 years.🥸✨

It is easy to imagine the frustration of having a network that took generations of hard work to build taken away by the British in an instant.😭

Summary

So far, I have introduced North American cities that were formerly French territory, Nouvelle-France. Did you discover anything? There were so many things I didn't know, so it was fun to summarize them and rediscover how interesting it is.🎶 Knowing that background raises the resolution of the lives and cultures of the people there, allowing you to understand them more deeply.
When you actually visit, it's interesting to find new discoveries in the differences in how things look.😆