On this date 248 years ago, King Louis XVI of France agreed to provide the United States with munitions for the American Revolutionary War. In years prior, France had lost the Seven Years War against Britain. They were eager to strike back–a little too eager given the amount of debt the country was in. Ultimately, the debt and the public’s dissatisfaction with the state of affairs–including the king’s wife Marie Antoinette’s wild spending–would result in the French Revolution just a few years later.
This video gives a decent synopsis of France’s help to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. It goes into some detail about George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette.
Clearly France was our ally at the very creation of this country. I spent some time talking with my child about allies and how the allies of the United States today seem to be quite different than they were just a year ago. The reason is of course the “reign” of Donald Trump, whose foreign policy seems to be different than anything we’ve experienced in our country’s recent history. Perhaps one reason is his obvious desire for self-enrichment and the enrichment of his friends at the cost of the American people and the country.
We did spend some time talking about allies and neighbors and friends. We talked about the importance in personal life and in the world of good neighbors, good friends, and good allies. We talked about Ukraine and American assistance to Ukraine and the limitations on our assistance. We also compared and contrasted Lafayette with some of the richest people in the world, specifically Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk. We drew a Venn diagram on the board for this activity. (Here is a link to a site that has a great Venn diagram.)
Here’s a glorious reason for 1) letting your kids read graphic novels if that’s what they want to read, 2) having multiple library memberships, and 3) asking your child what he or she knows about a subject before you get started on a topic. My older child knows more about Lafayette than I do! She read the book Lafayette (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #8): A Revolutionary War Tale and knew a great deal about Lafayette’s life, including details about his father’s death and his wife. Encourage reading!
Back to the topic at hand: Did Louis XVI have regrets? He didn’t express any per se. Will Donald Trump? All signs point to no. As I’ve stated previously, history doesn’t actually repeat itself, but it will rhyme. What will happen in the next three years? I had my child make some detailed predictions with explanations, and my husband and I made our own lists as well. We’ve put them all in writing in an e-mail and scheduled that e-mail for the end of next year–after mid-terms. We will treat them as a time capsule of sorts. It was a great writing assignment, too.
Never stop learning,
Erin
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