@lafayettepod @histodons you might get more response from your Canadian mastodon friends…most of New France was situated around present-day Quebec and the Maritimes, I believe. Not sure if there was much French presence south of that?

@lafayettepod my fellow citizens aren't Americans as you mean but mine is still a valid answer (a few Colombians / Germans have heard of it)

@lafayettepod @histodons I would say most are aware of it vaguely, without much detail. "The Louisiana Purchase" is an empty phrase endlessly repeated on history texts. Many can connect that to the name "Louisiana." Some are aware of Québec. Fewer are aware of Haiti & other Caribbean colonies. Imo the role of the Haitian revolution in France's exit from North America is often actively obscured.

@lafayettepod @histodons I think those in the northern border states still get it. From New England to Minnesota, there are still cultural remnants of those times.

@lafayettepod @histodons I know Michigan still retains many French geographic names such as the city of Cadillac. And “Pere Marquette” shows up all over western Michigan. It would be great to learn more about the early exploration and trade days.

@lafayettepod @histodons I live in the US South, so there's a bias that we know a little something about LA/Cajun - through foodways if nothing else - but most do not know the whys and wherefores of it being so

@lafayettepod @histodons 6th grade was state history in MN (ages ago). so yes, know some stories.

@lafayettepod @histodons
As a New England French Canadian now living in Chicago I would say that the history is pretty well known in the Northeast (particularly the old mill towns) but in the Midwest is mostly just a source of place names.