Français et francophones débarqués à New-York
- National Archives of the United States
New York ! More than today, this name sounds for our ancestors of the nineteenth century as a mythical goal where everything becomes possible.
More prosaically, it is a maritime node in the process of becoming central before being fully at the end of the century. Who wants to disembark in the United States goes through the port of New York and the different names it carries during the century : first simple port, then ferry terminal Castle Garden, finally customs center, migration (and quarantine!) of Ellis Island. But continuing its voyage to the West Indies or the ports of Central or South America must often also land in New York and continue in coastal navigation on a smaller ship than transatlantic ships.
Migrant farmers with their families, specialized workers or craftsmen coming to enrich the nascent American industry, artists, political exiles ... nearly 800,000 French, Belgians, Swiss, Luxembourger, Maghreb or protected French from the East land in New York in the nineteenth century . Without forgetting the Alsatians who after 1870 are no longer rated French by the American authorities but not Germans either.
- National Archives of the United States