French Consular folded letter from Philadelphia to Boston
National Postal Museum

French Consular folded letter from Philadelphia to Boston

August 18, 1793

paper; ink
National Postal Museum
CC0 — Public Domain
National Postal Museum

Some Americans hailed the French Revolution as the birth of a “sister republic,” but President Washington stayed neutral as France declared war on most of Europe. French consuls in America attempted to sway public opinion by appealing to sentimentality for French assistance during the American Revolution—a cynical approach, since the French Revolution had turned against Rochambeau, Lafayette, and other heroes of the war in America.

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