Courrier des Etats-Unis

The Courrier des Etats-Unis was a French language newspaper published by French immigrants in New York. It was founded in 1828 by Félix Lacoste with the help of Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon's older brother), who was living in New Jersey.^[1]

The Courrier was the most famous French newspaper in the United States, in North America and in South America and Caraïba. In 1850, it counted more than 11,000 registered^[2] readers and was distributed from Quebec to Río de la Plata, from New York to San Francisco. It also had readers in France.

During its first 20 years of existence, the Courrier knows a very interesting part of his life.^{[citation needed][3]}

Bonapartist period (1828-1836)

Founded by Félix Lacoste, a close friend of Joseph Bonaparte, the Courrier took a bonapartist line. Its readers were often bonapartist or republican in exile : Général Lallemand, Lakanal and others.

After the Three Glorious Days in France (27, 28, 29 of July 1830), the Courrier attacked the new monarchy and the new king Louis-Philippe. It accused the monarchy of stealing the French revolution principles and forgetting what the French people claimed and fought for during the Three Glorious Days. The newspaper argued that Bonapart family would be the best defender of nation's will.

Orleanist period (1836-1848)

After 1836, the Courrier became the property of a French librarian Charles de Behr. He was a supporter of Louis-Philippe and shifted the newspaper's line accordingly.

In 1839, Frédéric Gaillardet (1808–1882) bought the Courrier. He really transforms the newspaper. He wanted that the Courrier become the "organe des populations franco-américaines", it means the Courrier reach all the French-speaking peoples in America.

Republican period (1848-1853)

When news of the French Revolution of 1848 reached New York, Frédéric Gaillardet decided to return to France and participate in the construction of the new republic and defend his conservatist idea. He sold the Courrier to Paul Arpin, a French redactor of the Louisiana newspaper L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans. With Arpin the Courrier become a republican newspaper which attacked the royalists of the Parti de l'Ordre and Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte.

After the Republican period, history of the Courrier des Etats-Unis is not very known. We know that during the American Civil War it supported South.^{[citation needed]}

References

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	Journalism portal

1. ^ Stroud (Patricia T.)The Man Who Had Been King, The American Exile of Napoleon's Brother Joseph, 2005.
2. ^ Ernst (Robert) Immigrant Life in New York City 1825-1863, 1994.
3. ^ Grolleau-Fricard (Anthony)Le Courrier des États-Unis entre France, États-Unis et Canada (1828-1851), 2009. http://www.agf-consultant.ca/docs/THESEcorpus.pdf